Flow
A state of concentration and enjoyment in which a person becomes so absorbed in what they are doing that they lose track of time, and which appears when challenge and skill are balanced.
What problem it addresses
It explains why a task bores us if it’s too easy, distresses us if it’s too hard and hooks us when it’s just at our level.
Principles
Clear goals
You know at every moment what to do.
Immediate feedback
You see right away whether it’s going well.
A matching challenge
Neither so easy it bores nor so hard it overwhelms.
An example
An illustrative example: a game for learning to code.
Keeping the challenge one step ahead of skill makes the experience engaging.
Why it happens
If the challenge is low, boredom appears.
If it’s too high, anxiety appears.
When they are balanced, attention becomes fully focused.
Applications in design
Use it like this
In games, learning tools or complex products, match difficulty to each person’s progress.
Avoid
Interrupting someone who is focused with notifications or unnecessary steps.
Don’t fall for it
Not every product should captivate: sometimes it’s best for the task to end quickly.
Work > leisure
What the research says
78 adults recorded how they felt for a week. Most moments of flow happened while working, not in free time (Csikszentmihalyi and LeFevre, 1989).
Debated evidence. Even so, they said they were more motivated in their free time. Flow is also hard to measure, and studies use different definitions.
Connections
Authors and works
- 1975
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Described flow from interviews with artists, athletes and other people absorbed in what they did.
- 1990
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Spread the idea in Flow, a book for a general audience.
- 1989
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Judith LeFevre
Measured when flow appears in daily life with random prompts over a week.
Sources
Original sources
- Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1975). Beyond boredom and anxiety. Jossey-Bass.
- Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. Harper & Row.
- Csikszentmihalyi, M., & LeFevre, J. (1989). Optimal experience in work and leisure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56(5), 815–822. View source: Csikszentmihalyi, M., & LeFevre, J. (1989)
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