Traditional VS Behavioral Design
What's Behavioral Design?
Imagine you are a master chef, one who not only possesses deep knowledge of ingredients and their harmonious proportions, but also understands the meticulous process required to create that impeccable dish.
You don't just cook; you craft experiences that tantalize the senses, evoking emotional responses both in anticipation of the meal and in its savoring aftermath. It's in this sublime interplay of flavors, textures, and aromas that cooking ascends to art.
Yet, beneath the surface of these creations lies a bedrock of scientific principles—temperature control, chemical reactions, and even the psychology of taste—each crucial for honing the chef's skill.
In many ways, Behavioral Design is the same..
Think of behavioral design as the art and science of shaping the settings we find ourselves in, from the spaces we move through to the words that hit our ears, and even the way we interact with each other and the digital world. It's about blending the right ingredients from a vast pantry of behavioral sciences to influence human behavior.
Now, where does this wisdom come from?
A whole spectrum of fields like decision-making science, which explores why we sometimes make "irrational" choices; social psychology, revealing how our friends and the crowd sway us; the study of incentives that motivate us; and positive psychology, aiming to sprinkle a bit of happiness and well-being into our lives. Not to forget habit science, which helps us understand why we do what we do without thinking, along with several other areas of study like behavioral economics, environmental psychology, and anthropology.
Behavioral sciences then meet design fields, each with its own objectives, principles, and processes:
UX/UI Design: Dedicated to creating visually appealing and intuitive digital products.
Service Design: Focuses on designing services by considering all user touchpoints and interactions to improve service quality and user satisfaction.
Urban Design: Involves planning and designing urban spaces and infrastructure to create environments where we live, work, and play.
Policy Design: Aims at developing policies to address societal issues, focusing on effectiveness, implementability, and stakeholder needs.
Communication Design: Entails creating verbal, visual, and textual content to convey messages effectively to target audiences across various media.
Learning Design: Concentrates on designing educational programs and materials to optimize learning outcomes.
Game Design: Involves creating the structure, rules, story, characters, and environment of a game.
All these fields revolve around human interaction, and behavioral science offers a map to optimize for the human mind.
Spotting the Differences
When we dive into the world of Behavioral Design, we're stepping into a space different from traditional design, especially in terms of our understanding of human behavior, our focal points and priorities, and the methodologies we employ in the problem-solving and creative process.
Think of it as the difference between a GPS-guided journey and using an old-school map. Both will get you there, but the experiences and processes are worlds apart.
1. Mental Models: Who Are We Designing For?
Traditional Design often pictures users as rational decision-makers (the "Homo Economicus" model): self-interested, driven by material incentives, and highly efficient. This perspective shapes design that provides the right information, tools, resources, and functionality to meet their goals. The approach here is like setting up a well-signposted path: clear, direct, and appealing to the rational traveler.
Behavioral Design recognizes the complexity of human nature. Yes, we're sometimes rational, but we also seek entertainment and escapism (Homo Ludens), crave social connection and competition (Homo Socialis), and in some contexts, we make impulsive, emotional, and instinctual decisions, often leading to errors (Homo Irrationalis). We understand the world, think, and communicate through stories (Homo Narrans), and we are creative and problem-solving creatures (Homo Faber).
Behavioral Design recognizes and caters to this diverse range of human archetypes.
2. Focus: What We Aim For
Traditional Design: Here, the spotlight is on the aesthetics and functionality—how things look and work. It's about crafting beautiful, efficient maps without necessarily considering the traveler's willingness or desire to follow the path.
Behavioral Design: This is all about influencing the journey itself, guiding the traveler not just along any path, but towards making certain choices and actions. It's less about the map's beauty (although that matters!) and more about encouraging the explorer to take steps in a desired direction.
A standout example of nudging in action is found in the urinals at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, where a simple design tweak was employed to reduce 'spillage.' By embedding an image of a fly directly in the basin, users are subconsciously encouraged to aim at the fly, resulting in a cleaner restroom experience
3. Method: How We Get There
Traditional: Armed with principles of good design, user feedback, and usability testing, this approach refines the journey based on travelers' reported experiences and observed behaviors. It's like adjusting the map based on travelers' reviews and the ease of their journey.
Behavioral: Here, we delve into the psychological and economic underpinnings of the traveler's decisions, employing experimental testing to not just observe but understand and predict behaviors. It's like using insights into human nature to design paths that travelers are naturally inclined to follow, sometimes without even realizing why.
In sum, while traditional design gives us the map, Behavioral Design is about understanding the traveler in all their complexity, influencing their journey, and making the path not just navigable but irresistible. It's a deeper, more nuanced approach that acknowledges the multifaceted nature of human behavior, leveraging this understanding to shape experiences in subtle, impactful ways.
Exploring Behavioral Design Approaches
Behavioral design has significantly grown over the past decade, a development largely attributed to the brilliant work of scholars such as Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein. These two have played a crucial role in popularizing the concept of the "nudge," which was brought into the spotlight by their influential 2008 book, Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness. This book introduced a transformative way of thinking about our decision-making processes.
Although "Nudging" is often viewed as the hallmark of Behavioral Design, the field is actually teeming with a variety of strategies aimed at instigating behavior changes. These approaches have been developed through extensive research and practical application across various domains, including consumer behavior and health.
In our journey through Behavioral Design, we break down these strategies into three main types, based on how deep and lasting the changes they aim for are. This way of grouping them is something you’ll also find in the Make It Toolkit, helping us sort through the different ways we can design behavior.
Persuasion: Imagine this as the gentle art of suggestion, where nudges and knowing winks guide behavior subtly. Here, the tools of choice are cognitive biases and heuristics, crafting moments that nudge towards one-time decisions with the aim of sparking immediate, short-term changes. It's the whisper in the ear at just the right moment.
Engagement: This approach is all about turning up the volume on motivation and getting people involved. Through the magnetic pull of gamification and the compelling allure of storytelling—complete with rewards, challenges, and feedback loops.
Change: This is the big dream—making shifts that last. With strategies that really dig in, the goal here is to turn quick wins into long-term habits and ways of thinking, creating changes that are here to stay.
In short, while nudges might give us a quick start, Behavioral Design is a broad and rich field that goes beyond just simple pushes. It includes everything from small suggestions to big plans for lasting change, all powered by a deep understanding of what makes us tick.
he Make It Toolkit has curated over 300 tactics organized around the three pivotal approaches we've explored: persuasion, engagement, and change.
We've put in the legwork and sifted through the complexities to de-risk your strategy, offering you a compass for navigating the journey of influencing behavior
You can access 45 tactics for FREE by signing up on our website
This article previews the upcoming Make It Starter self-paced program, your first step into the world of behavioral design. Imagine a step-by-step guide to get better at changing behavior, filled with practical activities.
Pre-order by April 30th for a May launch and get an early bird 50% discount—saving you $145.
Thanks for embarking on this adventure. Ready to make it happen? 🎉🥳