Why Is It So Hard To Put Tech Down? The Design Choices Behind Our Attention

Anyone who has spent years producing television is a useful person to ask why you are still scrolling at 1am, because keeping people from changing the channel is basically their entire job. Serhii Nikolaichuk, Founder and CEO of The Capital Index, spent years in television and says the craft relied on cliffhangers, teasers before the break and anything else that kept viewers watching. But there was always an exit. As he puts it, “TV always gave you an exit: the end credits.” That was the exact moment when you knew you could stand up and walk away.

Modern technology doesn’t always give you that moment. A feed keeps going, the next episode starts before you’ve decided whether you want it and a notification can pull you back after you’ve already put your phone down. So how much of our difficulty putting technology down comes from the products themselves, and how much comes from the people using them?

 

Who Deleted The End Credits?

 

The first thing that changes the experience is the lack of a natural stopping point. A television programme eventually ends, a book reaches its final page and even an old-fashioned website usually gives you the bottom of the page. Plenty of modern apps have quietly removed those little signals telling you that you’re done.

Serhii describes it quite well: “Apps deleted the exit. Infinite scroll removed the bottom of the page. Autoplay removed the credits. Notifications call you back to the set after you’ve left.”

That can make continuing feel like the default. You don’t necessarily have to make a fresh decision to keep going because the next thing is already there. Mykyta Chernenko, Founder of AIWriteBook, sees the same pattern in the products he works with. “Most of these features work because they remove the moment where you decide to stop.”

 

 

When The Next Thing Is Already Waiting

 

Even once you’re still in the app, you’re rarely choosing from a blank screen. Recommendations can use what you’ve already watched, clicked, liked or shared to shape what appears next.

Serhii describes recommendations as “a channel with an audience of one”, while Dr Mark Kovacs, CEO at Kovacs Institute, says personalised recommendations can continuously refine what is most likely to hold our attention.

That also feeds into features such as streaks and gamification; missing one day on a language app can somehow feel less like forgetting an app and more like breaking a tiny contractual obligation you never remember agreeing to (yes, I’m talking about Duolingo).

Dr Kovacs points to gamification, streaks and unpredictable rewards as features that can shape behaviour, alongside infinite scroll, autoplay, notifications and recommendations. He also makes the point that attention is finite, so every extra minute spent engaging with technology is time that could otherwise go towards sleep, movement, focused work, recovery or real-world interaction.

Luan Wise, author of Privacy in the Age of Social Media: Beyond the Like, adds more to the picture: “Platforms respond to what people watch, click, like and share, meaning our behaviour also helps shape the experience we are given.”

So the app isn’t completely guessing what might keep you there; your own activity gives it information to work with.

 

Nobody Pressed The Evil Button

 

It would probably be comforting to imagine that there’s a room somewhere with a giant red button labelled “MAKE THEM SCROLL FOREVER”, but the reality described by some of these experts is a lot less theatrical.

Aakash Verma, Software Developer and Founder of Lovable 2 Live, makes it quite clear: “most ‘addictive’ features aren’t designed that way on purpose. They’re the defaults.”

He gives the example of asking an AI app builder for a feed and getting infinite scroll, because “that’s what most of the code it learned from does.” Ask for engagement and “you get streaks and a notification on every event.” For non-technical founders, those patterns can end up in a product without anyone consciously deciding that they want to make leaving difficult.

Aakash says some products deliberately add friction instead: “a feed that ends, notifications grouped into a digest, autoplay off by default.” Those choices may cost some short-term engagement, but he says “in my experience it earns trust that retention numbers don’t capture.”

 

When The App Starts Acting Like A Friend

 

Some of these design choices work because they resemble things we already understand as humans.

Juliana Chyzhova, GTM strategist and Co-founder of Catalyst Bay, describes infinite scroll as borrowing the shape of endless curiosity. A notification can feel like a friend tapping you on the shoulder. The newest and strongest version is AI that talks back, because a product that feels like a person is almost impossible to put down.

She also points to Harvard Business Review research in which people caught 18% fewer errors when AI work was framed as coming from a named “AI colleague” rather than a tool. She argues that the same human-like quality that keeps people coming back can also lower their guard.

Her end point is one that really sticks: “the behaviour isn’t all yours. It’s designed.”

So, that doesn’t mean every product is deliberately trying to manipulate its users but it does mean the way a product is designed can influence what feels natural to do next.

 

You Still Hold The Remote

 

None of this takes the decision away from the person using the technology. People can still choose what they watch, what they click on and whether they come back.

Luan puts it pretty clearly: “Design choices can significantly influence our behaviour, but they don’t make our choices irrelevant.” Understanding how platforms are designed can help people recognise those patterns and make more conscious decisions about how they use them.

Mykyta makes a similar point from the perspective of building a writing tool. “You still choose, just inside a setup built to make stopping harder than carrying on.”

That’s why blaming everything on willpower doesn’t quite cover it; Dr Kovacs argues that this isn’t just a battle between technology and willpower because product design shapes the environment in which those choices are made.

 

Counting Minutes Or Finished Chapters

 

There’s also a big difference between getting someone to come back and giving them a reason to come back.

Mykyta puts this into perspective through his work on writing software. A book only gets finished if the writer keeps returning to it, but he wants users to come back because the book matters to them, not because a red badge is nagging them.

“Those are different products,” he says. “One counts minutes, the other counts finished chapters.”

That changes what success looks like; keeping someone on a screen for another 20 minutes is one way of measuring engagement but helping them finish what they came to do is another.

 

When Stopping Becomes A Choice

 

The experts don’t describe one giant plan behind every feed, notification or autoplay button. Some of these features are deliberate, while others are only standard defaults that have become normal,  and sometimes they’re just responding to exactly what users have already shown they like.

Either way, the old end credits did something many apps no longer do: they told you when it was over.

Maybe your phone doesn’t need to roll credits every night, but having somewhere to stop would probably make putting it down feel a little less like walking away halfway the episode.

 

Our Experts:

 

Aakash Verma: Software Developer and Founder of Lovable 2 Live
Dr Mark Kovacs: CEO at Kovacs Institute
Juliana Chyzhova: GTM strategist and Co-founder of Catalyst Bay
Mykyta Chernenko: Founder of AIWriteBook
Serhii Nikolaichuk: Founder and CEO of The Capital Index
Luan Wise: Author of Privacy in the Age of Social Media: Beyond the Like

 

Aakash Verma, Software Developer and Founder of Lovable 2 Live

 

 

“As a developer who ships apps for other founders, I can tell you most ‘addictive’ features aren’t designed that way on purpose. They’re the defaults. Ask an AI app builder for a feed and you get infinite scroll, because that’s what most of the code it learned from does. Ask it for engagement and you get streaks and a notification on every event.”

“What I see most is non-technical founders shipping these patterns without ever deciding to. The products that hold up add friction deliberately: a feed that ends, notifications grouped into a digest, autoplay off by default.”

“It costs a little short-term engagement, and in my experience it earns trust that retention numbers don’t capture. The design choice is real. Increasingly, though, nobody is actually making it.”

 

Dr Mark Kovacs, CEO at Kovacs Institute

 

 

“The most effective technology doesn’t just compete for our attention—it is engineered to make disengaging harder.”

“Infinite scroll removes the stopping point. Autoplay removes the decision to continue. Notifications create repeated cues to re-engage, while personalised recommendations continuously refine what is most likely to hold our attention. Layer in gamification, streaks and unpredictable rewards, and you create an environment that can powerfully shape behavior.”

“From a human-performance perspective, this matters because attention is a finite resource. Every additional minute of engagement can compete with sleep, movement, focused work, recovery and real-world interaction.”

“This isn’t simply a battle between technology and willpower. Product design shapes the environment in which our choices are made. The healthiest technology should not only be measured by how effectively it captures attention, but by how well it helps people use that attention intentionally.”

 

Juliana Chyzhova, GTM strategist and Co-founder of Catalyst Bay

 

 

“Part of my job is making AI products people don’t want to put down, so I’ll tell you how it actually works. Most of these features work because they borrow the shape of something human. Infinite scroll imitates curiosity that never ends. A notification imitates a friend tapping your shoulder. The newest and strongest version is AI that talks back, because a product that feels like a person is almost impossible to put down.”

“HBR even found that people caught 18% fewer errors when they believed a named AI ‘colleague,’ not a tool, did the work. The same softness that keeps you coming back also lowers your guard.”

“So no, the behaviour isn’t all yours. It’s designed. The real question is whether a product respects your attention or just harvests it.”

 

Mykyta Chernenko, Founder of AIWriteBook

 

 

“Most of these features work because they remove the moment where you decide to stop. Infinite scroll has no last page. Autoplay starts the next episode before you chose it. Notifications decide when you open the app, not you. That’s not an accident: teams measure time spent, and each of these features moves that number.”

“Building a writing tool made me see it from the other side. A book only gets finished if the writer keeps coming back, but I want them back because the book matters to them, not because a red badge nagged them. Those are different products. One counts minutes, the other counts finished chapters.”

“So a lot of what feels like weak willpower is really design. You still choose, just inside a setup built to make stopping harder than carrying on.”

 

Serhii Nikolaichuk, Founder and CEO of The Capital Index

 

 

“I spent years producing television. Our whole craft was keeping people from changing the channel: the cliffhanger, the teaser before the break, the ‘next week on.’ But TV always gave you an exit: the end credits. That was your natural moment to stand up.”

“Apps deleted the exit. Infinite scroll removed the bottom of the page. Autoplay removed the credits. Notifications call you back to the set after you’ve left. Streaks turn a habit into a debt you’re afraid to miss. Recommendations build a channel with an audience of one.”

“So how much is design and how much is choice? Design sets the default. You only get a choice where it leaves you a stopping point, and the best-performing products leave you none.”

“Infinite scroll is a season with no final episode.”

Luan Wise, Author of Privacy in the Age of Social Media: Beyond the Like

 

 

“Technology platforms are designed to encourage continued use.”

“Features such as infinite scrolling, notifications, personalised recommendations, and autoplay make it easier to keep consuming content without making a conscious decision to do so.”

“However, the relationship works both ways. Platforms respond to what we watch, click, like and share, meaning our behaviour also helps shape the experience we are given.”

“Design choices can significantly influence our behaviour, but they don’t make our choices irrelevant. Understanding how platforms are designed to influence us gives us an opportunity to recognise those patterns and make more conscious decisions about how we use them.”