Digital Psychology & Behavioural Design · Part 2A — Applied Attention Mapping: Auditing Feeds, Notifications & Journeys

In Parts 1A–1C you learned the theory: dopamine loops, habit architecture, identity and persuasive environments. Part 2A is where you start working like a digital psychologist in the field — auditing real products, screens and flows as attention machines.

If you can’t draw how an app uses your attention, you can’t really say whether it’s helping you — or harvesting you.

1. What Is “Attention Mapping”?

Attention mapping is the practice of looking at any digital experience and asking:

• Where does my attention start?
• Where does it get pulled next?
• Where does it tend to stay?
• Where does it naturally stop — or refuse to stop?

Instead of seeing “a nice app”, you start seeing:

• Entry points (notifications, home screens, search results).
• Loops (feeds, recommendations, suggested content, chat threads).
• Exits (where you can close, log out, pause, set limits).
• Friction and funnels (which paths are smooth, which are sticky).

Part 2A gives you a repeatable audit method:

• Useful for builders who want to design ethically.
• Useful for users who want to protect their nervous system.
• Useful for parents, educators and leaders who need to evaluate tools for others.

Two Roles You Can Choose From

For each exercise, you can adopt one of two default roles:

• Observer-User: “How is this environment treating my mind?”
• Observer-Builder: “If I had designed this, what would I be trying to accomplish?”

2. The Three Layers of an Attention Audit

When you audit a product or platform, you can think in three layers:

1. Layer 1 — Surface Experience: what you see and feel in a single session.
2. Layer 2 — Behavioural Mechanics: how triggers, friction, loops and rewards are structured.
3. Layer 3 — Strategic Intent: what the system seems to be optimising for over time.

Layer 1 — Surface Experience (First-Person)

Questions:

• What’s the first thing you notice when you open the app?
• Where does your eye go without trying?
• How do you feel after one minute? After ten?
• What’s the easiest thing to do right now? The hardest?

Layer 2 — Behavioural Mechanics (System View)

Questions:

• What’s the main loop? (scroll, watch, tap, reply, buy, play)
• Where are the triggers? (badges, banners, “new” labels, red dots)
• Where are the rewards? (notifications, numbers, praise, progress)
• Where is friction removed? Where is friction added?

Layer 3 — Strategic Intent (Why This Way?)

Questions:

• What behaviour is most profitable or valuable to the company?
• How is that behaviour made convenient, fun or habitual?
• What behaviours are clearly not encouraged?
• If this environment shaped a child’s habits for 10 years, what would it be training them to value?

Template — 3-Layer Audit Snapshot

PRODUCT / PLATFORM:
______________________________________

LAYER 1 — Surface Experience:
- First visual pull: __________________
- First emotional impression: _________

LAYER 2 — Behavioural Mechanics:
- Main loop: _________________________
- Key triggers: ______________________
- Main rewards: ______________________
- Friction removed from: _____________
- Friction added to: _________________

LAYER 3 — Strategic Intent:
- Optimised behaviour: _______________
- Neglected / awkward behaviour: _____
- Long-term training effect: _________
  

3. Mapping Feeds — The Infinite Corridor

Feeds are the practical centre of most attention architectures. To map a feed, pay attention to:

• Entry: how many taps from unlock to being “inside the feed”?
• Unit: what each tile or post promises emotionally (humour, novelty, outrage, beauty, status).
• Controls: what options you have on each unit (like, reshare, save, comment, report, hide).
• End: whether there is one. (pagination vs. infinite scroll vs. autoplay.)

An ethical feed design:

• Lets you see where you are in a sequence.
• Makes it easy to stop or switch to non-feed tasks.
• Offers tools to shape what you see without friction.

A purely extractive feed design:

• Hides where you are in the stream.
• Offers no natural stopping cues.
• Resists your attempts to diversify or calm the content.

Exercise — Feed Anatomy in 5 Minutes

Open a feed you use often.

1) COUNT TAPS:
From unlock to seeing the first feed item:
Number of taps/swipes: _________

2) FIRST FIVE UNITS:
What emotions or impulses do they aim at?
1: _____________________________
2: _____________________________
3: _____________________________
4: _____________________________
5: _____________________________

3) STOPPING CUES:
Is there any natural "end" visible?
(yes/no and what)
________________________________

How easy is it to close the feed?
________________________________
  

4. Mapping Notifications — Invisible Hands on Your Shoulder

Notifications are remote controls for your attention. When you map them, ask:

• What types of notifications exist? (social, transactional, “engagement”, “news”)
• Which ones are genuinely necessary? Which exist mainly to pull you back?
• How are they grouped? Email, lock screen, banner, badges, sounds?
• How hard is it to turn non-essential ones off?

Ethical notification design:

• Defaults to silence for non-critical events.
• Respects time-of-day and context.
• Gives you granular control in plain language.

Notification Audit — One App at a Time

Pick one app that notifies you a lot.

LIST NOTIFICATION TYPES (from what you remember):
- ____________________________
- ____________________________
- ____________________________

FOR EACH, MARK:
[N] Necessary for my life
[U] Useful but not essential
[D] Primarily for the company's benefit

N: ____________________________
U: ____________________________
D: ____________________________

ONE CHANGE:
Turn off or mute ONE "D" notification and
note for a week how you feel.
  

5. Mapping Journeys — From “Just Looking” to “Fully Hooked”

A journey is the path someone takes over time:

• Day 1: discovers the app via a friend or ad.
• Day 3: creates an account.
• Week 1: completes a key action several times.
• Month 1: becomes a daily user or subscriber.

When you map a journey, you look for:

• Onboarding nudges: what pushes you to first meaningful action?
• Hooking moments: when do you first feel “I might stay here”?
• Lock-in mechanisms: data, followers, streaks, progress you don’t want to lose.

Journey Sketch — Your First 30 Days Somewhere

Pick a product you now use weekly.

DAY 1:
How did you arrive?
What made you curious enough to try?
______________________________________

DAY 3–7:
What kept you coming back?
Any early rewards or social hooks?
______________________________________

DAY 8–30:
When did it become "normal"?
Any features that would now be painful to lose?
______________________________________

Looking back, what was the "point of no return"?
______________________________________
  

6. Healthy vs Exploitative Attention Strategies

Not all attention design is harmful. Part 2A trains you to distinguish:

Healthy Strategies

• Clear purpose: “We help you learn / connect / rest / organise.”
• Bounded sessions: easy to pause, clear stopping cues.
• Support for long-term goals (sleep, focus, relationships, learning).
• Honest metrics and transparent progress.

Exploitative Strategies

• Vague purpose: “We keep you here.”
• Unbounded sessions: endless scroll, autoplay, no time awareness.
• Rewards that conflict with your stated goals (e.g., late-night pings).
• Hidden or manipulative metrics meant to trigger insecurity or FOMO.

Mini Checklist — “Is This Good for Future Me?”

After using this product for 30 minutes:

- Do I feel clearer or more scattered?
- Did I get closer to something I say I care about?
- Would Future Me thank me for this session?

Write 2–3 honest sentences:
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
  

7. Builder Mode — The Ethical Attention Canvas

If you are a builder (designer, developer, founder, content architect), Part 2A is also your design mirror.

Before you ship a feature, you can run it through a simple canvas:

Ethical Attention Canvas (Short)

FEATURE / FLOW:
______________________________________

PURPOSE FOR USER:
What long-term good is this meant to support?
______________________________________

ATTENTION STRATEGY:
- How do we get their attention?
- How do we hold it?
- How do we release it?
______________________________________

RISKS:
- Who could be harmed by overuse or misuse?
- What psychological vulnerabilities does this touch?
______________________________________

GUARDRAILS:
- Limits? Stopping cues? Time awareness?
- Easy way to say "no" or "not now"?
______________________________________
  

8. User Mode — Designing Your Own Attention Contract

As a user, you can treat every app as needing a contract:

• What am I willing to give it (time, data, emotion)?
• What do I expect in return (value, learning, connection)?
• When does the contract become unfair?

Attention Contract Script

"I use ____________________ for:

- ______________________________ (purpose)
- ______________________________ (secondary purpose)

It may have some entertainment side effects,
but its main job in my life is:

______________________________________

If it regularly:

- damages my sleep,
- harms my relationships,
- worsens my mood,

I will:

- adjust notifications / usage patterns, OR
- uninstall / pause for 30 days, OR
- move that need to a healthier tool."

Sign & date if you want:
______________________________________
  

9. Future-Proof AI Prompt — “Attention Auditor & Design Mirror”

Use this with any capable AI model to keep conducting attention audits for years, across new platforms and tools.

You are my "Attention Auditor & Design Mirror"
for Digital Psychology & Behavioural Design — Part 2A:
Applied Attention Mapping — Auditing Feeds, Notifications & Journeys.

GOAL
Help me:
- map how a specific app/platform shapes my attention,
- identify its main feeds, notifications and journeys,
- see healthy vs exploitative attention strategies,
- design personal boundaries or ethical improvements.

ASK ME FIRST
1) Which product / platform / app do you want to analyse?
2) Are you mainly:
   - a user (self-mastery),
   - a builder (design / product),
   - a parent/educator (safety)?
3) How do you feel after a typical 30-minute session there?

PROCESS
1) Guide me through a 3-layer audit:
   - Layer 1: surface experience (feelings, first impressions),
   - Layer 2: behavioural mechanics (loops, triggers, friction),
   - Layer 3: strategic intent (what behaviour is optimised).
2) Map:
   - the main feed(s),
   - the notification patterns,
   - a basic journey (first 30 days of a typical user).
3) Help me classify attention strategies as mostly:
   - healthy, mixed, or exploitative
   (with nuance, not judgment).
4) Suggest:
   - one change I can make as a user (settings, environment),
   - one change I could recommend or implement as a builder
     (if relevant).
5) Summarise our findings in a short, clear narrative
   I can save for future decisions.

STYLE
- Calm, precise, non-judgmental.
- Respectful of practical realities (work, income, community).
- Emphasis on agency, small experiments, and ethical clarity.

LIMITS
- Do not provide clinical diagnoses.
- Encourage professional help if I describe severe
  compulsive behaviour or distress.
- Avoid extreme all-or-nothing advice unless there is
  obvious, serious harm.
    

Version: v1.0 · Track: Digital Psychology & Behavioural Design · Module: Part 2A — Applied Attention Mapping: Auditing Feeds, Notifications & Journeys · Brand: Made2MasterAI™ · Educational only; not clinical, medical, financial, or legal advice.

Apply It Now (5 minutes)

1. One action: What will you do in 5 minutes that reflects this essay? (write 1 sentence)
2. When & where: If it’s [time] at [place], I will [action].
3. Proof: Who will you show or tell? (name 1 person)

You are my Micro-Action Coach. Based on this essay’s theme, ask me:
1) My 5-minute action,
2) Exact time/place,
3) A friction check (what could stop me? give a tiny fix),
4) A 3-question nightly reflection.
Then generate a 3-day plan and a one-line identity cue I can repeat.

🧠 AI Processing Reality… Commit now, then come back tomorrow and log what changed.