Designing for Behavior Change: Applying Psychology and Behavioral Economics

393 Pages·2013·22.39 MB·English

by  Stephen Wendel

Designing for Behavior
Change
Applying Psychology and Behavioral
Economics
Stephen Wendel
Beijing · Cambridge · Farnham · Köln · Sebastopol · Tokyo
Designing for Behavior Change
by Stephen Wendel
Copyright © 2014 Stephen Wendel. All rights reserved.
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[ Contents ]
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Part I UNDErStaNDING tHE MIND aND BEHaVIOr CHaNGE
Chapter 1 How the Mind Decides What to Do Next. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
The Deliberative and Intuitive Mind ..................................3
Making Sense of the Mind ............................................4
Most of the Time, We’re Not Actually “Choosing” What to Do Next ..6
Even When We “Choose,” Our Minds Save Work ....................15
The Obvious, Simple Stuff Is Really Important ......................19
A Map of the Decision-Making Process ..............................21
On a Napkin .........................................................23
Chapter 2 Why We Take Certain Actions and Not Others .......................25
A Simple Model of When, and Why, We Act .........................26
The Create Action Funnel ............................................39
On a Napkin .........................................................45
Chapter 3 Strategies for Behavior Change ......................................47
A Decision or a Reaction: Three Strategies to Change Behavior ....47
Strategy 1: Cheat! ....................................................49
Strategy 2: Make or Change Habits ..................................58
Strategy 3: Support the Conscious Action ............................67
A Recap of the Three Strategies ..................................... 68
On a Napkin .........................................................69
Part II DISCOVErING tHE rIGHt OUtCOME, aCtION, aND aCtOr
Chapter 4 Figuring Out What You Want to Accomplish ....................... 73
Start with the Product Vision ........................................76
Nail Down the Target Outcome ......................................76
Identify Additional Constraints ......................................85
Generate a List of Possible Actions for Users to Take ............... 86
On a Napkin .........................................................93
Chapter 5 Selecting the Right Target Action ....................................95
Research Your Target Users ..........................................95
Select the Ideal Target Action ...................................... 103
Define Success and Failure ........................................ 105
How to Handle Very Diverse Populations ..........................106
On a Napkin ....................................................... 109
Part III DEVELOPING tHE CONCEPtUaL DESIGN
Chapter 6 Structuring the Action ............................................. 113
Start the Behavioral Plan ........................................... 114
Tailor It ............................................................. 118
Simplify It .......................................................... 119
Make It “Easy” ..................................................... 121
On a Napkin ....................................................... 124
Chapter 7 Constructing the Environment ..................................... 125
Tactics You Can Use ............................................... 126
Increase Motivation ................................................ 127
Cue the User to Act ................................................ 133
Generate a Feedback Loop ......................................... 135
Knock Out the Competition ........................................ 136
Remove or Avoid Obstacles ........................................ 137
Update the Behavioral Plan ........................................ 138
On A Napkin ....................................................... 139
iv  |   DESIGNING FOR BEHAVIOR CHANGE
Chapter 8 Preparing the User ................................................. 141
Tactics You Can Use ............................................... 142
Narrate the Past to Support Future Action ........................ 143
Associate with the Positive and the Familiar ....................... 144
Educate Your Users ................................................ 145
How Training Your Users Fits In .................................. 147
Update the Behavioral Plan ....................................... 148
How Behavior Change Techniques Relate to the Thought
the Behavior Requires ........................................... 149
On a Napkin ....................................................... 151
Part IV DESIGNING tHE INtErFaCE aND IMPLEMENtING It
Chapter 9 Moving from Conceptual Designs to Interface Designs ............ 155
Take Stock ......................................................... 155
Extract the Stories or Specs ........................................ 156
Provide Structure for Magic to Occur .............................. 159
On a Napkin ....................................................... 169
Chapter 10 Reviewing and Fleshing Out the Interface Designs ................ 171
Look for Big Gaps ................................................. 171
Look for Tactical Opportunities ................................... 175
On a Napkin ....................................................... 191
Chapter 11 Turning the Designs into Code .................................... 193
Put the Interface Design in Front of Users ........................ 193
Build the Product .................................................. 195
Go Lean If Possible ................................................ 196
On a Napkin ....................................................... 197
CONTENTS   |  v
Part V rEFINING tHE PrODUCt
Chapter 12 Measuring Impact. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Why Measure Impact? ............................................. 203
Where to Start: Outcomes and Metrics ............................204
How to Measure Those Metrics ....................................208
Determining Impact: Running Experiments ...................... 211
Determining Impact: Unique Actions and Outcomes ............. 221
Other Ways to Determine Impact ................................. 221
What Happens If the Outcome Isn’t Measurable
Within the Product? ............................................225
On a Napkin ....................................................... 231
Chapter 13 Identifying Obstacles to Behavior Change ......................... 233
Watch Real People Using the Product .............................234
Check Your Data ................................................... 235
Figure Out How to Fix the Obstacles .............................. 242
On a Napkin .......................................................246
Chapter 14 Learning and Refining the Product ................................247
Determine What Changes to Implement .......................... 247
Measure the Impact of Each Major Change ........................ 251
When Is It “Good Enough”? ....................................... 257
How to (Re-)Design for Behavior Change with an
Existing Product ................................................ 257
On a Napkin ....................................................... 259
vi  |   DESIGNING FOR BEHAVIOR CHANGE
Part VI PUttING It INtO PraCtICE
Chapter 15 Common Questions and a Start-to-Finish Example ...............263
An Example of the Approach ...................................... 263
Questions About How and Why We Act ........................... 270
Questions About the Mechanics of Building
Behavior Change Products ...................................... 276
Chapter 16 Conclusion ......................................................... 287
Four Lessons .......................................................287
Themes ............................................................ 295
Looking Ahead ....................................................296
Appendix A: Glossary of Terms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
Appendix B: Resources to Learn More. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
Appendix C: Bibliography .......................................... 311
Appendix D: Endnotes .............................................. 327
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
CONTENTS   |  vii