Behavioral Science
Working ourselves out of a job since 2000 😁
This is exactly how human-centered behavioral scientists should be thinking when working on products or experiences that are meant to help people progress toward better outcomes.
The goal of your solutions, be they in health, learning, well-being, etc is not to have people use them forever... it's for people to make progress.
That progress should be enabled by your product and by that product addressing the right influences to enable change.
Once the change happens, people may not need your products anymore - or us helping you build those products (because they reached their goals).
That does not mean they can't return when they need your product again, and that also does not mean your product will be obsolete. This progress may present new opportunities for you to focus on the new behaviors and influences that the change creates.
To be clear and close off
We can't just design solutions to endlessly engage for the sake of engagement, because if we do, we may end up causing more harm than good, delaying real progress from occurring. In the worst case, we may end up turning to dark patterns to satisfy the metrics we are chasing.
There needs to be a good balance between company and people outcomes - not always easy - but always needed.
Thanks, Matt Wallaert for the great comment and conversation on this!