Welcome to The Design Loft #54
It matters little that what we aspire to, envision, dream, or even make if we can’t convert those products into action for those we’ve created them for.
Behaviour and related action (change) is among the most neglected aspects of design. Designers often believe if they do the research, have a good idea, bring it to life with craft and skill, and produce a superior product to what exists that people will adopt it. Those that don’t, simply don’t know good design.
It’s the same faulty thinking that informs scientists and health policy leaders who believe that more and better evidence will change people’s behaviour on it’s own. The science stands on it’s own, right? Well, if that was true, we’d probably not have the wicked problems we’ve created for ourselves right now.
Good design like good evidence does not, on its own, move people. We need to factor in behavioural strategies for change.
Today, we’re going to introduce some concepts that designer might want to consider if they want to convince people of health benefits.
Going Beyond Information
Cognitive-rational models of behaviour assume that people are motivated by facts, evidence, and examples that change how we think. The idea is that if we lack information, providing it will fill that gap and people will change or do something with that information. It’s all based on logic and linearity. As designers, we know that aesthetics, feel, and performance qualities of any product are only one aspect of non-logical, non-rational infleunces affecting behaviour.
Human behaviour is about complexity.
Some other issues to consider when approaching how we create, share, and market what we make to influence behaviour:
Our views of the world are based on experience, habits and patterns, not just information.
Decision fatigue -- how it plays into what we create, what your audience or customers experience, and how they make decisions is a critical factor. Overwhelming people with more information can be counterproductive.
People will decide thing differently based on their energy level; which means ensuring you make your most critical decisions at optimal times.
Avoiding Magic Bullet Thinking
Social influencers love the ‘quick hit’ that showcase how doing X, Y or Z will produce change. The truth is that there isn’t a single method or approach that is sustainable, ethical, and effective in changing behaviour. Motivation is tied to social context, biological forces, and individual values. There is no “magic bullet”.
There is no magic bullet to create behaviour change
Dr. Harvey Skinner and I spent years working on something called the Likelihood of Action Index, which is based on a sound, thorough review of the literature on what makes people shift their behaviour. Our work on this has been published in Health Psychology (2008) and features as the core of Harvey’s (2002) book Promoting Health Through Organizational Change. Harvey’s original vision was that promoting health and change is more useful when viewed as an index, where the more of these elements you have in place, the more likely someone (person, organization, community) is to shift their behaviour.
This index is based on the concept that the person(s):
Has knowledge and skills to take action
View themselves as personally susceptible to a problem or issue (or as a beneficiary of action)
Sees that problem or issue as serious
Believes change will reduce risks, gain advantages
Assesses pros as outweighing cons of change
Believes that others endorse action (social norms)
Is motivated to comply with others’ wishes
If we seek to inspire, motivate, and move people, the more we can design in our messages, products, and opportunities that connect these together, the more likely what we make will turn things into tangible benefits.
A more comprehensive model of this was published later and is called The Behaviour Change Wheel, which is worth a read. It brings more of the environmental and identifies more contextual factors that influence us.
Converting Ideas into Action
A few more things to consider is that the evidence is clear that, while our thoughts influence our actions, so too do our actions influence our thinking. Try the change first, then change the mindset. Link behaviour and thoughts together, which is called behavioural activation (act and the belief will follow).
Once changes take place, a way to sustain them is to Eevaluate outcomes - draw lines between causes and effects, small wins, daily habits. Evaluation, as the issue below discusses, is not just for accounting for change, but can be a motivator to change.
Find levers to influence and recognize that people may be at different stages of readiness to change. Not everyone is able to take action for reasons that have to do with readiness, not interest. Recognize that we sometimes have the right product, but that the timing isn’t ready for the market (the right time). Aligning these is important.
Foster questions about what it is that you see and explore whether it is an event, a pattern, or part of a systemic structure; leverage innovation accordingly. By having processes in place to identify trends, spot patterns, develop new ideas and put them in place, helps organizations reduce fear and recover from failure.
The path to behavioural changes is long, windy and complicated, but it’s also something we can grasp. We change and create change every day. As designers, this is our opportunity to learn more about ourselves and how our efforts to create better things can be honoured with action.
Good luck and enjoy the behavioural ride!
References:
Michie, S., van Stralen, M. M., & West, R. (2011). The behaviour change wheel: a new method for characterising and designing behaviour change interventions. Implementation science : IS, 6, 42. https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-5908-6-42
Schmidt, R. (2019). Broadening the Nature of Behavioral Design. Behavioral Scientist.(Link)
Schmidt, R. (2023). Three tensions that behavioral design must address. Behavioral Scientist (Link)
Skinner, H. A. (2002). Promoting health through organizational change. Benjamin Cummings.