New Habits brought on with new use cases

So many meanings to the cover of this lovely Moleskine diary from 2014.....

Office is the default solution people like my wife turn to. That is, until something unusual happens. Whenever the interface people use to access a technology changes — such as the shift we see now from desktop to mobile — the deck of user habits is reshuffled.

Suddenly, behaviors must be reworked for use on another interface — say on a 5-inch phone screen.

For example, while it’s my job to make a weekly trip to buy groceries for the family, my wife is responsible for making the shopping list. In the past, she kept track of what I should buy on an Excel print-out. Recently however, she’s switched to using a mobile-optimized Google Sheet to save the list.

When it comes to even our strongest technology habits, we’ll make a change when a new interface forces us to look for new solutions. The same four basic steps of the hook — a trigger, action, reward, and investment — help us form new routines and establish new habits, no matter how endlessly loyal we think we are.

From the Intercom.io blog (that great Irish start-up).

We see it everywhere. The smartphone has upended routines for everyone. I'm sure we can all think of even the most die-hard, I'll-never-get-a-smartphone, friend/colleague who upon getting their first smartphone (either from giving in to peers, or just because their favourite dump-phone isn't made any more) suddenly be seen making reminders, jotting notes, tapping a shopping list, etc. into the new phone. And out goes their old diary/paper/memory solution. These are not New Years Resolutions, something for the novelty/effort to wear off after a few weeks, but fundamental changes. 

One company that gives another great example of this in my eyes is Moleskine, creators of the venerable notebook. Diaries, journals, to-do lists, etc. - but all items that many are replacing (especially the to-do list and calendar with their phones). So, links with the likes of Evernote, etc. are smart strategies, not to mention them also aspiring to be a lifestyle brand (and thus emulating the current king of this, Apple).

Any other examples? There must be loads!

*An aside? I highly recommend checking out the range of Evernote services - useful enough that it became the second service I started paying for online (after Mozy).