Using Fogg behaviour model in b2b products
I wrote about Fogg’s behavior model in the previous post. It is also an effective model when we think about building B2B products or features in B2B products. The reason I want to write specifically about B2B products is because B2B products have multiple personas with varying privileges using the same product. So, one needs to be careful when adding a CTA that might or might not be useful to certain personas.
Usually B2B products have different roles, the most common ones are admin and user. Admin has larger privileges as opposed to an user(or an agent) who has lesser privileges.
Two reasons why understanding what we put in front of the users is important while building products. Firstly, the real estate in any give page is not endless, it is limited. That means, if a persona does not have a ability to do it, then best to avoid a prompt (CTA) for such a persona in that page. You could use that precious real estate for something else, if nothing then at least the white space will remove the clutter from that page. Secondly, showing a CTA where a user does not have privilege to act on, will only cause frustration in the mind of the user.
So, when building a feature in such a product, it is important to keep in mind what drives the desired behavior. The agent has to have the motive (why should they do the task), the ability (how easy is it to do the task) and the prompt(is the CTA intuitive) to exhibit a behavior that we want them to. Even though making it easy to do and showing the CTA is in our control, having the motivation to do so is in the user’s control and the way to increase the motivation is to clearly showcase the value the user will get if they do that task.
Takeaway:
Understand the target user persona for whom you are building this.
Do they have the motive and the ability to do what you want them to do. If yes, then show the prompt.
When introducing a new feature, make sure to onboard them to that by showcasing the value of that feature to them, which gives them high motive to do the task.
Here is an example prompt (subscribe).
Motivation: You can read my new posts on Product Management in your inbox.
Ability: super easy, you just have to type in your email.