symplicit - the abc of behaviour - jodie moule - v1.0

The A,B,C of behaviour

PresenterPresentation NotesToday, Im going to talk about the A B C of behaviour

2Commercial in Confidence. 2010 Symplicit Pty Ltd.

We are all talking about changing behaviour through design

3but, have you ever stopped to think how hard it is to change behaviour?

We are all talking about changing behaviour through design

When did you last change your behaviour?

PresenterPresentation Noteshas anyone kept a NYR that lasted more than a day a week? Well done! You are pretty rare

The majority of people relapse within a day of making it

At best, they last a few months.

5What about me?

PresenterPresentation NotesAs you can imagine Ive been thinking about this a lot lately

And the last time I changed my behaviour was when I received this in the post

This little tool triggered the last time that I did

PresenterPresentation NotesIt was sent as a mail-out from Melbourne Water at the height of the drought a few years back in Melbourne.At first I put it on the wall next to our sink, in the hope it would guide young children to brush their teeth for a certain timeframeit didnt. So it sat near the sink for a while actuallyuntil one day I looked at it and thought how useless it was in that position so I had the brainwave -Hey, how about I actually put this *in* the showerit will probably be more useful there.So I moved it to our shower and some amazing things happened, firstly I had to learn to shower within the 4 minutes it allowedand this took some time despite the fact I thought I was aware of time spent

I also became incredibly guilty about being in the shower for longer than the 4 minutes it allowed.The change was almost immediate *once the device was actually in the shower itself*though it took a while for the device to find its way to the correct context. When I reflect on how this device has influenced and changed my behaviour I marvel at the fact that there are times I go longer than 4 minutes in the shower (being a girl and all)

but interestingly, I build up a mental bank of time in credit for the times when I took a shower in less than 4 min so I can justify the time.Interesting how the presence of such a small thing, positioned in the right area made such a huge impact and difference to my behaviour.

Anyway, lets take a look at some of the key triggers of behaviour change for this instance

7Process of behaviour change

PresenterPresentation NotesLike many in Melbourne there was a general cultural attitude toward the water shortage in Victoria it was at crisis point.

As a result of the norm of the time, my senses were highly attuned to the fact that water saving was a big deal and this was reinforced through many different channels and media

I was *aware* or *conscious* of the need to save water and heard about it a lot on various media channels but didnt really do it in any structured way, besides being mindful

Then suddenly a tool was provided that would help me time how long I took or bring it even more prominently to my awareness

As we talked about, the tool sat around in the wrong contextthe context was changed and voila!

Change in behaviour resultedand has been maintained and constantly improved upon, ever since.Well that is my view of what happened in my particular situation

8so what do I know anyway?

PresenterPresentation NotesSo what do I know about behaviour change anyway?

Jodie MouleDirector, Symplicit

(Psychologist)

PresenterPresentation NotesLike a million starry eyed psychology grads I wanted to be a clinical psych.

So at the start of my career, I worked at a place called Lowry Lodge in Newcastle NSW.Lowry Lodge was a non-medical detoxification unit for in-patients who were looking to kick their addictions to a variety of substancesheroin, amphetamines, cannabis, alcohol, so onWhat I experienced there was my first view of how hard it is to change behavior.

I learnt that it certainly isnt impossible to change behaviour and we are talking serious stuff here but it *does take time*

Interestingly enough, it was probably my first experience of poor service design too without even knowing it.

this is because Lowry Lodge was also a needle exchange. Thats not so unusualbut it was *how* this took place that just didnt seem quite right to meUsers would come and swap used needles for new ones at the centreagain not so unusualBUT they did this by *ringing a door bell* that would chime throughout Lowry Lodge

Ding dong!

PresenterPresentation NotesNowI think we have all heard of Pavlov right?Maybe they were trying for *extinction which means to face your addiction head-on so you can better carry on day-to-day life un-fazed if you encounter it again* as opposed to *avoidance which is more like removing yourself from any situation you may encounter your addiction*.but to my mind that was a little early to be testing peoples resolve. Anyway when I hear everyone talk about changing behaviour through design I often reflect on my time at Lowry Lodge.

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What does behaviour change mean to us as designers?

PresenterPresentation Notes

Design has always facilitated change in behaviourespecially in the area of Technology.But it seems lately that Design for behaviour change is in the forefront of peoples awareness.Part of the challenge of designing for behaviour change is understanding what influences behaviour change in the first place.**So as designers we need to become more familiar with human behaviour and make it a conscious focus of our design process.But dont we already do that?

Yep we sure do that is why were are here; we focus on what it is that users do and why they do it, so we can then design better systems

Faster horses?!?

PresenterPresentation NotesHowever, one of the most important things we need to be mindful of is that we must focus not only on the here and now

but also on the future view of how we want people to behave with what we create.

and this point, is something I think that is often forgotten.

It has been rolled out a number of times, but I love the reference to Henry Ford saying

if he had have asked people what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse

This cuts to the core of the fact that people cant project beyond their current experience to meet a future need

because at the end of the day they are not designers.

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Perhaps wed first better take a look at this thing called behaviour change

PresenterPresentation NotesAnyway, on that notewe had better look a little more at this thing called behaviour change

The mind is a powerful thing

PresenterPresentation NotesIve said in the past that The mind is a powerful thing, and then I remembered who was telling me that.

Funny huh?

Anyway - I dont want to delve too deeply into the cognitive side of things or dissect the different types of thought, but I did want to recap on a few basics.

The brain *is* powerful

Fills in the blanks & cuts out the irrelevant bits for us

It notices more than we think it does It actively hides reality from us Seeing what is in front of us is hard, and

most of us never learn to do it We find it hard to verbalise why we do

what we do It steps in for us so we can do things

automatically giving a feeling of *not thinking*

PresenterPresentation Notesthe human brain *is* powerful, it helps us to do a number of things daily that we may not even realise.

One of the best examples of the power of the mind in taking over and letting you essentially fall asleep at the wheel as you go about your day-today activities is driving home...

I go the same way everyday, but sometimes if I need to do something after work on my way back home I often find myself going down the same path and totally missing the new route I have to take

I used to have a lecturer that referenced this as the lizard that lives at the back of our head that just does things for us automatically so we dont need to think about the details.

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Conscious thinking plays, at best, a small role in shaping our behaviour and choices.

PresenterPresentation NotesSo for now what I want to highlight is that conscious thinking is actually thought to play only a small role in shaping our behaviour

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Conscious thinking plays, at best, a small role in shaping our behaviour and choices.

...this makes things tricky.

PresenterPresentation NotesSo this makes things tricky right?

There are lots of behaviour theoriesso Im not going to delve too deeply into all the possibilities, assumptions or philosophical leanings

Im going to fly my flag as a behaviourist and focus on a few that we have found to be the most relevant to our world and the most useful in helping us to understand what makes people do what they do

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PresenterPresentation NotesBehaviour is thought to be a function of a person and their environment

This is the basic tenant of behavioural analysis whereby, something happens to precede a behaviour (antecedent)

That in effect causes or influences the behaviour

Resulting in a consequence.

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PresenterPresentation NotesNow we cant change a person

but we can influence the way they behave by shaping the environment they function within.

What this model shows is that *yes* we *can* shape behaviour.

And generally the easiest way to do this is through some form of positive reinforcement or removal of a negative impact

Believe me I have toddlersso I put this theory into practice every day.

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Important!

The behaviour you are seeing is the behaviour you have designed

PresenterPresentation NotesThe really important part of this basic model is that

The behaviour you are seeing is the behaviour you have designed forIn design we have the ability to create a new or novel Antecedent that can essentially shape Behaviour.

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Theory of Planned Behaviour

PresenterPresentation NotesThe Theory of Planned Behaviour proposes a model for how human action is guided.

It was originally put forward by Fishben and Ajzen then later modified by Ajzento what you see here.

Today, this is thought to be one of the most predictive persuasion theories

so lets take a closer look at it

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Theory of Planned Behaviour

PresenterPresentation NotesTheory of Planned Behaviour explains why we might make certain choices

So as the model shows, to predict whether a person intends to do something, we need to know:- Whether the person is in favour of doing it (attitude)- How much the person feels social pressure to do it (subjective norm)- Whether the person feels in control of the action in question (perceived behavioural control)In its first evolution, this theory suggested that if a person intends to do something, then it is likely that the person will

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But do you remember our discussion of the mind?

PresenterPresentation NotesHOWEVER - Behaviour is often not *intentional* or *controlled* at all.Regardless, to-date, this theory is one of the most predictive persuasion theories as shown in the application of study in advertising, public relations, and healthcare.

So this is one we need to keep in mind as a good overall model to reference behaviour.

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Why is this useful?

PresenterPresentation NotesBy using the theory, we are better able to

understand the beliefs and attitudes of customers,Segment our customers by their beliefs, create products to impact those beliefs,

and hopefully measurably increase the likelihood of the desired behaviour.

If we maximize these three predictors, we will increase the likelihood that the person will intend to perform the desired action and thus increase the chance of the person actually doing it.

So this is a great one for us to be mindful of when we are designing

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Process of behaviour change

PresenterPresentation NotesThinking of my water habits example again we can see how the Theory of Planned Behaviour and basic behavioural analysis models explain the change I observed

The norms of the time and my attitude meant I was open to act in a certain wayand I did have control over the way I acted by placing the tool in the right context

However, the initial control over my behaviour was much lower than I had anticipated before I received the tool that led to dramatic change when in context. Something that really triggered this change though was that tool.

So looking at the ABC again the tool was the Antecedent, and the Consequence was that I felt better about having a shorter shower and saving water less guilt if you like.

This is important to think about, because as designers that tool is our design

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The stages of change model

PresenterPresentation NotesAnother model that I find very useful is the Stages of Change Model,

Proposed by Prochaska & DiClemente and it is arguably one of the most dominant models of health behaviour change

so no prizes for guessing where I came across this one!

However, it is something we have seen to apply to the online space and well talk a little about that

So were going to take a look at it a little more here

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PresenterPresentation NotesThe model basically outlines several steps in the change process, whereby people can cycle in and out and around several timesthe stages are:

[Talk through the stages of change model, as applied to drug and alcohol addiction]Pre-contemplationContemplationPreparationActionMaintenanceTermination (100% self efficacy)Relapse (cycle back to an earlier stage)

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Why is this useful?

PresenterPresentation Notes

Because it is useful for us to understand not only how people might make certain choices

but also it is important to consider where in the cycle of change, or how willing they might be to change.

For example, we applied this model to better understand the cycles of change that users went through when researching online

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When are people researching online?

PresenterPresentation NotesThe context was house-hunting

And we applied this model to better understand when people were using the online channels available to them as against the offline channels for this product

So as we can see from the diagram that there was a trigger of some sort that kick-started the process for users where they would:

Start researching for a new house, Assess the options available to themThey might record properties of interest and then move to the offline process of viewing properties and make their shortlists or selections.

The stages of change were different for different user types. That is, first home buyers versus investors, or home owners buying for a second or third time

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PresenterPresentation NotesTying these user processes to the Stages of Change model, we discovered that people tended to research online most heavily when they are in what would relate to the pre-contemplation / contemplation stages of the model

So we found that extensive online researching allows them to feel confident enough to get ready for action

Which in this case is taking the plunge on what is probably the most serious financial commitment any of us might make our home.

So generally speaking, users build their confidence via mostly online channels, then moving offline for the main action stages

with some online touch-points still referenced

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PresenterPresentation NotesSomething interesting we noted was that there was also a spiral effect

that meant that each time people cycled around trying to find a new house or search again

[because the house they found fell through or something similar]

they then had shorter and shorter spirals each timepresumably learning from what they had gained from the last experience and becoming a bit quicker in their activities.

How did we use this information?

So this assisted us to set a clear user experience strategy that identified how and when to focus on different digital channels to better target users in different stages of the house hunting process.

What this meant to the business was that different product channels could be optomised to better benefit from the significant investment in marketing.

Overall this allowed marketing efforts to be more focused around the user

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So what influences mass behaviourchange?

Systemic Innovation is determined by a balance of three things behavioural norms, tools and rulesTim Brown, IDEO

PresenterPresentation NotesSo we have looked at a few examples of behavioural change

but now Id like to look at a few examples of mass behaviour change as it allows us to focus on how the introduction to rules influences behaviour change.

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Bike helmets

PresenterPresentation NotesBike helmets are a topical issue in Melbourne lately due to the instillation of the new bike share system.I think it is no surprise that the need for helmets to be worn is a problem for the success of the system as it currently stands.

So I thought it would be interesting to consider - what was the behaviour they were hoping to change at the time of the introduction of helmets in the 1990s?

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Cyclists admitted to Victorian hospitals, with and without head injuries

PresenterPresentation NotesHelmets were introduced to assist lower the level of head injuries sustained by those on a bicycle.

This graph is an example, showing cyclists admitted to hospital in Victoria with and without head injuries.

Looking at the data, they achieved that but they also reduced the number of non-head injuries

so perhaps all they did is reduce the number of cyclists, and looking at the peaks and troughs, before and after helmet laws

seasonal variation (i.e., winter) appears to have had the greatest impact of all.

Research seemed to suggest that people were also turned off cycling because of the introduction of mandatory helmets.

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Daily life or Lycra brigade?

PresenterPresentation NotesWearing our behaviourist hat we can see nowadays that having to wear a helmet has turned many causal bike riders off riding a bikeIn this example we can see how the Rules impacted the Tools and Norms

and behaviour change was quick for adopting a helmet

but also somewhat rapid in decline of number of cyclists.

Today we want to design systems that encourage use of bikes. From an infrastructure perspective safe roadways and specific bike paths and education on bike safety is what Norway suggests. From a behaviour change perspective, helmets appear to stand in the way in a more significant manner.

So, the big question here is Was the drop in cyclists a planned behavioural change, or simply an oversight due to the assumption that all cyclists would adopt helmets?

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Toll booths

PresenterPresentation NotesAnother instance of rules forcing mass behaviour change is the introduction of eTags across Sydney and Melbourne.

The desired behavioural change from rolling out eTags was that motorists would pay their toll without stopping, thereby reducing traffic and easing congestions on the road.

In Melbourne it was rolled out as mandatory overnight, while in Sydney its been a gradual trickling to encourage eTag use.

During the rollout in Melbourne you would hear complaints that the government was forcing drivers to do this and that they would never use the system, however the traffic runs freely and most people I know savour the convenience that these roads bring.

In Sydney, you can still pay cash at some toll booths and there are 2 or 3 different eTags available, and overall, it is a headache to work out which lane is eTag or not.

Even worse I think there is still a boom gate that comes down in front of you in the eTag lane for the Harbour Bridge

This does nothing to assist the flow of the traffic.This is an interesting example as a designer As it harks back to the need to consider our role as designers being to focus not only on the here and now, but also on the future possibilities and how we can influence the design of systems to better accommodate what we know about behaviour

It again reinforces that we need to design for the behaviour change we want to see in the future, and keep that top of mind in any planning activities.

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What else changes behaviour?

PresenterPresentation NotesNow they are two changes that were really influenced by rules and regulations that impacted behaviour

but what I guess I want to also explore is - can we have change in behaviour when there are no rules pushing immediate change?

Mainly because this is the type of world we all work within

The answer is yesIt *is* possible and one way that has been shown to influence behaviour is fun

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Fun its fun

PresenterPresentation NotesAs children we are taught to learn through play, games and fun Are we really that different now?Raph Koster wrote a book called A Theory of fun for Game Design, which examines what fun actually is, what makes things fun, and why its important Fun is stuff thats enjoyable.

And, crucially, its the means by which we retrain our brain to learn new patterns of behaviour. So actually, if we want to encourage behaviour change, and get people to do things they wouldnt otherwise do, or even want to do, isnt it just about designing playful and enjoyable experiences?Here is a great example of how making things fun can lead to almost immediate behaviour change

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The fun theory

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw&feature=player_embedded

PresenterPresentation NotesTalk about the dramatic change in people walking up the stairs vs. escalator

and that there were no new rules or norms that influenced in this situation.

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So how do we design for change?

PresenterPresentation NotesSo the good news is *yes we can* design behavioural changeIt is about thinking about culture and context before we even start on ideasAnd we are all really good at that.

Design research leads us to enquire about the context and identify the opportunities and habits.

However, we need to considerHow can we as designers shape how users feel, and not just accommodate what they are doing currently?

This is a really important point to consider, because if we hope to design behavioural change in our users, well need to focus beyond what is happening now.

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Top tips for designing behavioural change

PresenterPresentation NotesSo none of this is any good if we dont know how to apply this in our day-to-day work

so here are a few takeaway tips to consider when you are designing systems, services and interfaces.

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1. Define the desired behavioural change you want to observe,

2. Feed this into the business strategy and design process, let it guide these processes

3. Define your target audiencethen go a bit outside the norm

4. Conduct research and understand the behavioural predictors of our population (attitudes, norms, control, stages)

5. Monitor, measure and modify. Rememberbehaviour change can take timebe patient


PresenterPresentation NotesSo this is where we need to become better at identifying the desired behavioural outcome and design a structure that facilitates this. We need to consider scenarios of use that might lead us to our future goal...

We are good at identifying a UX strategybut we need to consider what is the behaviour we want to change and let this guide our design process

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2. Feed this into the business strategy and design process, let it guide these processes,

3. Define your target audiencethen go a bit outside the norm




PresenterPresentation NotesThis needs to tie into our business strategy and design process

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3. Define your target audiencethen go a bit outside the norm,




PresenterPresentation NotesWe work with a lot of companies that are so focused on getting users online

but yet they are very hesitant to include users in research who are not online.

Why?

Wont this teach us more?

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4. Conduct research and understand the behavioural predictors of our population (attitudes, norms, control, stages). Qual and quant is needed here



PresenterPresentation NotesWe still need to understand the context

and we need to break information apart in terms of understanding peoples attitudes, the norms and what stage of readiness they might be to change behaviours they already have as well established

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4. Conduct research and understand the behavioural predictors of our population (attitudes, norms, control, stages). Qual and quant is needed here

5. Monitor, measure and modify. Rememberchanging a behaviour can take timebe patient


PresenterPresentation NotesIf we are aiming to change behaviours, we need to track and measure the rate of success over a longitudinal period of time

This takes time

We need to be patient!

Jodie MouleDirector

03 9670 33850415 288 [email protected]

Symplicit Pty LtdLevel 1, Suite 103, 757 Bourke StDocklands, VIC 3008Ph 03 9670 3385www.symplicit.com.au

Thank you!

Follow us @symplicit

PresenterPresentation NotesThank you!

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