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ACTION DESIGN:
Designing products that help people take action



Steve Wendel
Principal Scientist, HelloWallet
@sawendel

NoVA UX Meetup, 13 March 13
ACTION DESIGN

• Traditional product design is about
  building good products

• Action Design is about building good products
  that are effective at changing behavior.

  So people can do things they want to do,
  but haven't been able to do before.


• Without:
   • Coercion
   • Persuasion
   • Trickery
NEW RESEARCH, NEW OPPORTUNITIES

1. Decades of research in persuasion & trickery

2. A recent growth in more beneficial uses

3. Action Design makes this literature real & useful
   for UX and product people:

    • Pulling in the latest behavioral research

    • Measuring causal impact

    • Integrating UX and product expertise
TOPICS


  How it works: tools, process, and preparation


  Designing a user progression


  Designing the app itself


  Implementing the designs & more
HOW IT WORKS: TOOLS

1. Learning how the mind decides to act

2. Thinking strategically about behavior change

3. Evaluating alternative actions

4. Designing around an action

5. Measuring impact
HOW IT WORKS: PROCESS




Note: hey, this is what
happens when a researcher
does graphic design…. We’ll
talk about why designers
need to be free to do
beautiful things later.
TOPICS




  Designing a user progression
WHAT’S A USER PROGRESSION?

Our goal:

Develop a detailed “story” of how the user progresses
from being a neophyte to accomplishing the action.

We’ll do that with three tools:
1. Learning how the mind decides to act
2. Thinking strategically about behavior change
3. Designing around an action

The “story” can be narrative, visual, verbal, whatever.
TOOL: HOW THE MIND DECIDES TO ACT

1. We have two independent
   systems for decision making

   = Dual Process Theory
   = The Rider & The Elephant


2. Most of the time, we’re not       Image from http://kazez.blogspot.com/
   actually “choosing” what to do.   Metaphor from J. Haidt (2006) & the Buddha


3. We’re using habits.

4. Or, we’re using hundreds of
   cognitive shortcuts.
TOOL: HOW THE MIND DECIDES TO ACT



5. Shortcut: We don’t read webpages.

6. Shortcut: We do stuff that’s easy and familiar.

7. Shortcut: We judge based on rough, prior associations.

8. Shortcut: Beautiful = Easy to Read = True
             Easy to Remember = Likeable = True
TOOL: THINK STRATEGICALLY

Three core behavior change strategies:

1. Cheat.

2. Build habits.

3. Help users make the choice,
   consciously.


                                         LarkLife exercise
                                         & sleep band
CHEAT IF YOU CAN

Remove the need for the user to work.

Option 1: Set a default option
Example: “Easy Mode” on fancy cameras

Option 2: Make it a side effect
Example: Add iron to flour

Option 3: Automate it, behind the scenes
Example: 401(k) automatic deductions, bill payment


Question: How can we cheat with the exercise app?
BUILD HABITS

Habits save the conscious mind from doing work.

1. Gamification is one option.

2. To do it, identify:
   1. A clear trigger
      (time of day, or event in life),
   2. A routine
                                             Duhigg (2012)
      (something to do unconsciously),     The Power of Habit
   3. A reward
      (especially random ones).

Question: What natural habit loops exists for exercise?
THE CONSCIOUS CHOICE TO ACT

1. Deciding to act takes work – esp. attention and self-control

2. You won’t keep attention for long

3. Self-control varies across the day

4. Align with the intuitive mind as much as possible.
   There’s no such thing as a “conscious mode” of thinking.
TOOL: DESIGNING AROUND AN ACTION

Write out the story of new users progressing over time

Four tasks can help:
1. Gather Knowledge
2. Structure the Action
3. Construct the Environment
4. Prepare the User
GATHER KNOWLEDGE:
GET TO KNOW YOUR USERS

• What major groups are there?
   • By experience with the actions?
         Already exercise vs. don’t.
   • By expertise with your medium?
         Have a smart phone vs. don’t.
   • By how they see you?
         Trust you vs. don’t.

• Why haven’t they taken this action in the past?

• What’s easy for them? What’s familiar?
STRUCTURE THE ACTION ITSELF

1. Break the action up
   into small, manageable steps

2. Build up the users’ confidence
                                                 From money.cnn.com
3. Give clear feedback

4. Make it clear what to do physically, specifically

5. Look for ways to cheat, and look for habit loops.


Question: What sequence of actions will help users exercise?
CONSTRUCT THE ENVIRONMENT

1. Motivate – why should they act?

2. Trigger – actually ASK them to act.

3. Identify and neutralize competing
   motivations & triggers

4. This is very similar to Fogg’s Behavior Model,
   but with a bit more guidance on the design part.


Question: What’s in the users’ environment, for each step?
Write out the story: why act, why now, and why not do something else?
PREPARE THE INDIVIDUAL FOR ACTION

1. Educate? Only if necessary. Usually wasted.

2. Hook into prior positive associations & experiences

3. Develop a self-narrative that the user will succeed




Question: How do you prepare the user to act, for each
step of the progression?
Designing the App Itself
YOU ALREADY KNOW HOW

• Extract the agile user stories or
  specifications you need
  from the user progression

• Work up some rough wireframes

• Remember:
   • A behavioral plan is not a product.
     It’s a design consideration.
   • UX experts must be free to innovate & find creative,
     beautiful ways to accomplish the plan.
YOU ALREADY KNOW HOW, PART 2

• Got Wireframes? Cool.

• Use the same tools, again.
  This is the little-B behavioral work.

• Think strategically:
   • Where can you cheat?
   • Where are there habit loops?

• Design around the action:
   • Structure the action itself?
   • Construct the environment?
   • Prepare the user to act?
YOU ALREADY KNOW HOW, PART 3

• In the details (wording, layout, etc.),
  remember how the mind makes decisions – shortcuts.

   •   Loss aversion
   •   Implementation intentions
   •   Temporal Myopia
   •   Inertia
   •   Peer effects
   •   … and many more…


• See John Whalen’s Presentation, Anderson’s Seductive
  Interaction Design, Krug’s Don’t Make Me Think,
  Weinshenk’s 100 Things
Implementing the designs & more
THE REST OF THE PROCESS
IMPLEMENTATION


• Same Tool: Behavior Change Strategies

• Same Tool: Design Around the Action

• New Tool: Evaluate Behavioral Cost-
  Effectiveness
MEASUREMENT & ITERATION


• New Tool: Impact Assessment

• New Tool: Evaluate Behavioral Cost-
  Effectiveness

• Same Tool: Behavior Change Strategies
PICKING THE RIGHT BATTLE


• New Tool: Evaluate Behavioral Cost-
  Effectiveness

• New Tool: (Plan for) Impact Assessment
AND THAT’S IT FOR NOW.

• Comments! Feedback!
   • What more do you need to know?
   • Examples in your own work?

• Check out actiondesign.hellowallet.com for more on this step-by-step
  method for designing for behavior change.

• Check out www.meetup.com/action-design-dc
  A Meetup on product-mediated, beneficial behavior change, where
  anyone in the community can swap notes.

  The next meetup, March 19th 6:30pm, is a deep dive into BJ Fogg’s
  Persuasive Design and Behavioral Model

• Contact me any time at steve@hellowallet.com or @sawendel
Thanks
Steve Wendel
@sawendel
steve@hellowallet.com

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Lean actiondesign nova_ux_13march2013_v4sw

  • 1. ACTION DESIGN: Designing products that help people take action Steve Wendel Principal Scientist, HelloWallet @sawendel NoVA UX Meetup, 13 March 13
  • 2. ACTION DESIGN • Traditional product design is about building good products • Action Design is about building good products that are effective at changing behavior. So people can do things they want to do, but haven't been able to do before. • Without: • Coercion • Persuasion • Trickery
  • 3. NEW RESEARCH, NEW OPPORTUNITIES 1. Decades of research in persuasion & trickery 2. A recent growth in more beneficial uses 3. Action Design makes this literature real & useful for UX and product people: • Pulling in the latest behavioral research • Measuring causal impact • Integrating UX and product expertise
  • 4. TOPICS How it works: tools, process, and preparation Designing a user progression Designing the app itself Implementing the designs & more
  • 5. HOW IT WORKS: TOOLS 1. Learning how the mind decides to act 2. Thinking strategically about behavior change 3. Evaluating alternative actions 4. Designing around an action 5. Measuring impact
  • 6. HOW IT WORKS: PROCESS Note: hey, this is what happens when a researcher does graphic design…. We’ll talk about why designers need to be free to do beautiful things later.
  • 7. TOPICS Designing a user progression
  • 8. WHAT’S A USER PROGRESSION? Our goal: Develop a detailed “story” of how the user progresses from being a neophyte to accomplishing the action. We’ll do that with three tools: 1. Learning how the mind decides to act 2. Thinking strategically about behavior change 3. Designing around an action The “story” can be narrative, visual, verbal, whatever.
  • 9. TOOL: HOW THE MIND DECIDES TO ACT 1. We have two independent systems for decision making = Dual Process Theory = The Rider & The Elephant 2. Most of the time, we’re not Image from http://kazez.blogspot.com/ actually “choosing” what to do. Metaphor from J. Haidt (2006) & the Buddha 3. We’re using habits. 4. Or, we’re using hundreds of cognitive shortcuts.
  • 10. TOOL: HOW THE MIND DECIDES TO ACT 5. Shortcut: We don’t read webpages. 6. Shortcut: We do stuff that’s easy and familiar. 7. Shortcut: We judge based on rough, prior associations. 8. Shortcut: Beautiful = Easy to Read = True Easy to Remember = Likeable = True
  • 11. TOOL: THINK STRATEGICALLY Three core behavior change strategies: 1. Cheat. 2. Build habits. 3. Help users make the choice, consciously. LarkLife exercise & sleep band
  • 12. CHEAT IF YOU CAN Remove the need for the user to work. Option 1: Set a default option Example: “Easy Mode” on fancy cameras Option 2: Make it a side effect Example: Add iron to flour Option 3: Automate it, behind the scenes Example: 401(k) automatic deductions, bill payment Question: How can we cheat with the exercise app?
  • 13. BUILD HABITS Habits save the conscious mind from doing work. 1. Gamification is one option. 2. To do it, identify: 1. A clear trigger (time of day, or event in life), 2. A routine Duhigg (2012) (something to do unconsciously), The Power of Habit 3. A reward (especially random ones). Question: What natural habit loops exists for exercise?
  • 14. THE CONSCIOUS CHOICE TO ACT 1. Deciding to act takes work – esp. attention and self-control 2. You won’t keep attention for long 3. Self-control varies across the day 4. Align with the intuitive mind as much as possible. There’s no such thing as a “conscious mode” of thinking.
  • 15. TOOL: DESIGNING AROUND AN ACTION Write out the story of new users progressing over time Four tasks can help: 1. Gather Knowledge 2. Structure the Action 3. Construct the Environment 4. Prepare the User
  • 16. GATHER KNOWLEDGE: GET TO KNOW YOUR USERS • What major groups are there? • By experience with the actions? Already exercise vs. don’t. • By expertise with your medium? Have a smart phone vs. don’t. • By how they see you? Trust you vs. don’t. • Why haven’t they taken this action in the past? • What’s easy for them? What’s familiar?
  • 17. STRUCTURE THE ACTION ITSELF 1. Break the action up into small, manageable steps 2. Build up the users’ confidence From money.cnn.com 3. Give clear feedback 4. Make it clear what to do physically, specifically 5. Look for ways to cheat, and look for habit loops. Question: What sequence of actions will help users exercise?
  • 18. CONSTRUCT THE ENVIRONMENT 1. Motivate – why should they act? 2. Trigger – actually ASK them to act. 3. Identify and neutralize competing motivations & triggers 4. This is very similar to Fogg’s Behavior Model, but with a bit more guidance on the design part. Question: What’s in the users’ environment, for each step? Write out the story: why act, why now, and why not do something else?
  • 19. PREPARE THE INDIVIDUAL FOR ACTION 1. Educate? Only if necessary. Usually wasted. 2. Hook into prior positive associations & experiences 3. Develop a self-narrative that the user will succeed Question: How do you prepare the user to act, for each step of the progression?
  • 21. YOU ALREADY KNOW HOW • Extract the agile user stories or specifications you need from the user progression • Work up some rough wireframes • Remember: • A behavioral plan is not a product. It’s a design consideration. • UX experts must be free to innovate & find creative, beautiful ways to accomplish the plan.
  • 22. YOU ALREADY KNOW HOW, PART 2 • Got Wireframes? Cool. • Use the same tools, again. This is the little-B behavioral work. • Think strategically: • Where can you cheat? • Where are there habit loops? • Design around the action: • Structure the action itself? • Construct the environment? • Prepare the user to act?
  • 23. YOU ALREADY KNOW HOW, PART 3 • In the details (wording, layout, etc.), remember how the mind makes decisions – shortcuts. • Loss aversion • Implementation intentions • Temporal Myopia • Inertia • Peer effects • … and many more… • See John Whalen’s Presentation, Anderson’s Seductive Interaction Design, Krug’s Don’t Make Me Think, Weinshenk’s 100 Things
  • 25. THE REST OF THE PROCESS
  • 26. IMPLEMENTATION • Same Tool: Behavior Change Strategies • Same Tool: Design Around the Action • New Tool: Evaluate Behavioral Cost- Effectiveness
  • 27. MEASUREMENT & ITERATION • New Tool: Impact Assessment • New Tool: Evaluate Behavioral Cost- Effectiveness • Same Tool: Behavior Change Strategies
  • 28. PICKING THE RIGHT BATTLE • New Tool: Evaluate Behavioral Cost- Effectiveness • New Tool: (Plan for) Impact Assessment
  • 29. AND THAT’S IT FOR NOW. • Comments! Feedback! • What more do you need to know? • Examples in your own work? • Check out actiondesign.hellowallet.com for more on this step-by-step method for designing for behavior change. • Check out www.meetup.com/action-design-dc A Meetup on product-mediated, beneficial behavior change, where anyone in the community can swap notes. The next meetup, March 19th 6:30pm, is a deep dive into BJ Fogg’s Persuasive Design and Behavioral Model • Contact me any time at steve@hellowallet.com or @sawendel

Editor's Notes

  1. There is a lot that can said about HelloWallet, its an interesting and original business that evokes passion & curiosity and this presentation will animate much of that. But if there is only one thing you take away from this pitch it is this – that HelloWallet enables all Americans to reach their financial potential. Not just Americans with money to spend or manage…although we’ll help them too and they are some of our most passionate customers…but all Americans. Regardless of their economic mobility or ability to pay us. So one thing: we strive to provide the financial guidance to help every American Say Hello to their Money.