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The Human-Centred
Design
Agency

Understanding and Influencing Behaviour

Make it personal

Put the User in control

Making active choices helps people feel more ownership over a decision, and makes them more likely to follow through

Encourage a sense of ownership

When people feel ownership over something they tend to attribute more value to it and go to greater lengths to avoid losing it.

Get the user to make an argument for the desired outcome

People are more likely to agree with persuasive arguments when they are forced to actively make the argument themselves

Make the desired outcome align with the user's identity

People generally behave in ways that reinforce their personal identities. When a behaviour conflicts with a person's sense of identity, they can experience unhappiness and unease

Highlight visceral or personal stories

People are more likely to recall and respond to emotional stories that highlight a specific person's experience - rather than stories that focus on facts or numbers

Call attention to relevant social norms

People tend to behave in accordance with real of perceived social norms, and generally don't like to behave in ways that go against what is socially acceptable

Make it Personal

Craft the Journey

Help the user make a commitment in advance

People tend to make less rational choices when they're in "hot" states - like when they're hungry or emotional. Deciding in advance, in a "cold" state makes preferable outcomes more likely

Establish positive expectations

A person's expectations about an event or product have the power to change the way they actually experience it.

Introduce a peak and end on a high note

People tend to remember and evaluate past experiences based on the highest or lowest point, and the end. People are more likely to fondly recall and repeat experiences that have a notable high point and end on a high note

Provide immediate and ongoing feedback

When outcomes occur in the future it can be difficult to make the connection to the actions that originally caused them. More immediate feedback can help people better understand the consequences of their actions

Craft the Journey

Tip the scales

Emphasise gains to encourage a behaviour

People enjoy experiencing gains, especially in the present. When an option or outcome is framed in terms of its associated gains it becomes more appealing - and people rarely stop to consider associated losses

Increase present gains

Gains that occur in the present are more pleasurable than gains that occur in the future. The further into the future gains occur, the more people discount their value, and the less pleasurable they seem

Break large gains into multiple smaller gains

Experiencing separate smaller gains is often more pleasurable that experiencing them simultaneously as one large gain

Use surprise to increase the pleasure of gains

People experience more pleasure from surprise gains than they do from expected gains

Emphasise losses to discourage a behaviour

People dislike experiencing losses, especially in the present. When an option or outcome is framed in terms of its associated losses it becomes less appealing - and people rarely stop to consider associated gains

To view more of our learning shots, click here:

Reduce or delay present losses

People go to great lengths to avoid losses. However, the further into the future a loss occurs, the more people tend to discount its impact. As a result, future losses often seem less daunting than present losses

Combine small losses into one larger loss

Losses that are experienced together, as one large loss, are less painful than smaller losses that are experienced separately

Tip the Scales

Keep it Simple

Reduce uncertainty associated with the desired outcome

People tend to avoid options that have ambiguous or uncertain outcomes, preferring instead options that are clear and certain

Don't overwhelm the user

When facing an overwhelming amount of information, people may shut down and stop paying attention. In the face of extremely scary information, people may engage in unhealthy self-soothing behaviours

Minimise decisions to reduce decision fatigue

Making many decisions in a row can lower a person's willpower and cause them to subsequently make more "irrational" decisions

keep it simple
Set up the Option

Set up the options

Call attention to the desired option

People are more likely to select the option that they pay most attention to. The longer a person looks at a visual representation of an option, the more likely they are to choose it

Make the default option the desired outcome

People are more likely to go with a default option when one is present, since it doesn't require any extra effort or action on their part

Make the desired outcome a mid-range option

People tend to avoid extreme options (eg the cheapest or most expensive, smallest or largest). They're more likely to choose an option that feels like a compromise between extremes

To view more of our learning shots, click here:

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