Design for Behavior Change
39 likes7,972 views
The document discusses 10 key answers to why people do the "wrong" things or fail to change behaviors. It discusses that 1) people don't always know better, 2) logical decision making isn't always logical due to emotional influences, 3) people don't always learn from direct experiences, 4) urgency and immediacy matter more than future consequences, 5) change is a slow process of developing new habits, 6) some decisions are more "fraught" than others, 7) people lack self-efficacy and a growth mindset, 8) willpower is limited and not equal for all, 9) social influences impact behavior, and 10) the environment can enable or discourage certain behaviors. It provides examples and recommendations for
Design for Behavior Change
- 1. Design for Behavior Change Think about: What behaviors would you like to see changed? Julie Dirksen, Usable Learning
- 2. There’s a question I’ve been thinking about most of my professional life…
- 3. Why do people do the wrong* things? It’s a simple question, but it has a complicated answer. *By wrong, I don’t mean morally wrong…
- 4. Why do people do the wrong* things? It’s a simple question, but it has a complicated answer . *By wrong, I don’t mean morally wrong…
- 5. Answer 1: They don’t know any better I can’t buy printer paper from my brother- in-law? It has to go How do you figure through sales tax, again? purchasing? 1800 Calories? Seriously???
- 6. Answer 1: They don’t know any better Fast Food Smoking Texting while driving People don’t still smoke because nobody happened to mention it was a bad idea, so why does it still happen?
- 7. I know, but… “I know it’s a bad idea, and I never do it (except when Texting while I do, and then I feel guilty).” driving “I know it’s a bad idea, but I only do it once in a while, and I’m very careful.” “I know it’s a bad idea for other people, but I can do it because I’m really good at it.” “Huh? What’s the big deal?” Except for the last, none of these are knowledge problems, so adding more information probably won’t change things.
- 8. So, why?
- 9. Answer 2: Logical decision-making isn’t logical From Jonathan Haidt’s The Happiness Hypothesis
- 10. The Rider
- 11. The Elephant
- 12. So, when there’s a conflict… Who do you think wins?
- 13. The Rider can hold out for a while… … but it gets tired quickly. Shiv, B. and A. Fedorikhin. 1999
- 14. Answer 3: We learn from experience How many of you know that it’s bad to text while driving? How many of you learned this through personal experience?
- 15. What do we really mean when we say “We learn from experience?” A friend of mine got two free personal training session with her YMCA membership. She thought she was getting oriented, but the trainer put her through a monster workout. She was so sore the next day she could barely move. So, what did she learn from that experience?
- 16. Here’s the thing.. …the elephant isn’t stupid. This sucks…I am not doing this again…
- 17. So let’s go back to our texting example… What are each of these drivers learning from their experiences?
- 18. Answer 4: Urgency matters We are creatures of urgency: Maybe I should consider retirement planning…
- 19. Which do you think works better: I guess I’ll be glad I know this someday… I’m really glad I know this now…
- 20. And the future is sooooo far away…
- 21. Oooo, shiny!
- 22. Visceral Matters Remember the fruit salad vs cake? The effect was much more pronounced if people were looking at the cake and fruit salad when they made their choice.
- 23. We have trouble with this… We are also loss averse…
- 24. We make decisions differently for our future selves Future self Current self Pronin et al 2008
- 25. Answer 5: Change is slow
- 26. We develop unconscious competence • Familiarization • Comprehension • Conscious Effort • Conscious Action • Proficiency • Unconscious Competence Gloria Gery, Electronic Performance Support Systems
- 27. We develop unconscious competence Glucose Metabolic Rate after several weeks of Tetris Practice Haier et al, 1992
- 28. Change is hard If you are used to this: Then this feels bad:
- 29. The elephant is a creature of habit
- 30. Repeat after me: Change is a process, not an event.
- 31. Answer 6: Sometimes the changes are downright fraught Characteristics of a fraught decision: • Benefits Now – Costs Later (or Costs Now – Benefits Later) • Degree of Difficulty • Frequency • Feedback • Knowing What You Like
- 32. Answer 7: We lack self-efficacy How do your learners feel? Things just I do happen to me no control in control fixed mindset growth mindset Mindset, by Carol Dweck
- 33. Answer 8: We don’t have enough willpower Think heads or Were you right? tales.
- 34. Willpower is not created equally Greene and Paxton, 2009
- 35. Willpower is like a muscle:
- 38. What’s even more important than willpower… Resiliency
- 39. Answer 9: Social Matters
- 40. We pay more attention when people are involved Okita et al 2009
- 41. We use other people as cues for how to act
- 42. We listen to authority figures, but… …you have to have the right authority figure. If you are talking to kids about drug and alcohol use, who is the real authority figure? http://www.projectalert.com
- 43. Answer 10: Environment Matters
- 44. Design changes behavior Johnson and Goldstein, 2003
- 45. Make it easy for people to succeed Don Norman, The Design of Everyday Things
- 46. Create an environment that supports them The Freedom Trail, Boston
- 47. So what do we do about it?
- 48. Make things immediate • How can we create a sense of urgency?
- 49. Create opportunities to practice
- 50. Meet people where they are Pre-contemplation Contemplation Planning Action Maintenance Prochaska & DiClemente
- 51. Have people learn from experience • Role plays • Simulations • Trials • Observations
- 52. Avoid cycles of failure
- 53. Design for the elephant
- 54. Opinion Leaders, Testimonials, Success Stories
- 55. Use good models - TAM Technology Acceptance Model Perceived Perceived Technology Usefulness Ease of Use Acceptance
- 56. Use good models – Diffusion of Innovation • Relative Advantage • Compatibility • Complexity • Trialability • Observability Everett Rogers , Diffusion of Innovations
- 57. Help them make less fraught decisions (but don’t decide for them) The benefits of paper are…
- 59. Now you try • Make it immediate • Create opportunities to practice • Meet people where they are • Have people learn from experience • Avoid cycles of failure • Design for the elephant • Opinion leaders, testimonials, success stories • Use good models • Fix the environment How can you use some or all to address the behavior you want to change?
- 60. Questions? Julie Dirksen julie@usablelearning.com Twitter: usablelearning Design For How People Learn
- 61. References • Shiv, B. and A. Fedorikhin. 1999. Heart and Mind in Conflict: Interplay of Affect and Cognition in Consumer Decision Making. Journal of Consumer Research 26 (December): 278–282. • Haidt, Jonathan, The Happiness Hypothesis (book) • Gery, Gloria, Electronic Performance Support Systems (book) • Haier, R.J., B.V. Siegel Jr., A. MacLachlan, E. Soderling, S. Lottenberg, and M.S. Buchsbaum. 1992 Regional glucose metabolic changes after learning a complex visuospatial/motor task: a positron emission tomographic study. Brain Research 570: 134–14. • Thaler, Richard and Sustein, Cass. Nudge (book) • Okita, S.Y., J. Bailenson, and D.L. Schwartz. 2008. Mere Belief of Social Action Improves Complex Learning. Proceedings of the 8th International Conference for the Learning Sciences. • Johnson, Eric J. and Goldstein, Daniel G., Do Defaults Save Lives? (Nov 21, 2003). Science, Vol. 302, pp. 1338-1339, 2003. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1324774 • Norman, Donald, The Design of Everyday Things (book) • Greene and Paxton, Patterns of Neural Activity Associated with Honest and Dishonest Moral Decisions, PNAS 106:12506-12511 (July 28, 2009). • Prochaska, JO; Norcross, JC; DiClemente, CC. Changing for good: the revolutionary program that explains the six stages of change and teaches you how to free yourself from bad habits. New York: W. Morrow; 1994 • Rogers, Everett Diffusion of Innovations (book) • Pronin E, Olivola CY, & Kennedy KA. (2008) Doing unto future selves as you would do unto others: psychological distance and decision making. Personality and social psychology bulletin, 34(2), 224-36.