So let’s review the start and process we went through in the workshop.
Our starting point was always that none of us think or act “perfectly”. And that’s exactly where behavioral economics, human-centered design, and data come in. Design to Amplify Behavior Change works you through an innovative methodology to help you design better programs from the onset and to improve existing programs.
So let’s (re)design programs in 6 steps so that the programs work for the clients they intend to serve:
Let’s figure out what the ideal behavior is.
Let’s identify the universal human traits (called cognitive and behavioral biases) that are making that behavior difficult for an individual to do. Let also identify any structural or other barriers.
Let’s prioritize those biases using existing or easy to collect data.
Let’s come up with initial concepts for how to address those biases, then narrow them down to a handful of rough prototypes (or service design options).
Let’s work with clients to develop the prototype and turn it into an intervention/program.
Let’s test and evaluate that intervention/program. By mapping the intervention back to the barriers we identified, we’ll know how to best scale up the program.
Remember, you know how to think like a behavioral economist!
We are all humans and our behavior predictably follows the same cognitive and behavioral biases as the clients in our programs, just in different contexts. I buy junk food when I go to the grocery store because I’m hungry, an example of the hot-cold empathy gap. (We make different decisions and take different actions when we’re in a “hot” state, which in my case is being hungry.) Someone may decide to skip a meeting with a social worker for the exact same reason - being angry and in a hot state - despite having every intention to go to that meeting. It’s the same bias affecting behavior, just a different context. I ostrich, I procrastinate, I don’t take action because of a negative stereotype in my head, I see other people doing something and follow their lead, and I can bet that you have mirrored many of those same behaviors in your own lives.
We are all experts in human behavior through our own lives, and a careful process of considering how the biases are affecting behavior, then doing formative work with clients to confirm or deny those, then co-designing to address those biases will help strengthen your program and make it more sustainable. It will require some thought and an open mind. However, you don’t need a PhD to do it. In the end it will help you better understand and empathize with your clients and help improve your program, along with improving the lives of your clients.
One quick reminder - in today’s world the word ‘bias’ has a negative meaning. But when we talk about cognitive and behavioral biases, there is no negative or positive. They are simply how human thinking and acting has evolved over thousands of years - biases help us take action and understand the world around us. So if the term ‘cognitive or behavioral bias’ seems negative to you, think of the term ‘cognitive or behavioral quirk’ instead.
