Slides from OReilly.com Webcast on 7 August, showing how to design products that help users take action -- from exercising more to getting involved in political action.

1. Designing Products
that Help Users
Change their Behavior
O’Reilly Webcast
August 7, 2013
Steve Wendel (@sawendel)
Principal Scientist, HelloWallet

2. A surge of new products
Products that help people
do something hard.
Voluntarily. Transparently.
From exercise,
to organizing email.

3. Background
How we decide
Design
Refine
Topics
1
2
3
4

4. A bit of background
http://oreilly.com/go/behavior-change

5. I’m here to listen

6. My day job

7. With help from friends

8. Background
How we decide
Design
Refine
Next Up – How we decide
1
2
3
4

9. An explosion of research in behavior economics and
the psychology of judgment & decision making
We’ve learned a great deal, recently

10. The same psychology… for a new purpose

11. Lots of individual tactics

12. To
What’s required for people to take action?
From
To
Every person and
every action we take is
unique.
But the mind still has
to go through a similar
process.

13. We have two independent systems for decision making.
Image from http://kazez.blogspot.com/
Metaphor from Haidt (2006), Heath & Heath (2010), and the Buddha (~500 B.C.)
A Rider and an Elephant
We’ve known this for a long time.
Now there’s solid research
showing, specifically, how the two
systems work.

14. What else happens?
Conscious actions must pass these five tests:
Detect a Cue?
React Intuitively?
Evaluate Consciously?
Have Ability?
Is it Timely?
All yeses? Execute.
All five must come together at the same time.
Think of them as a checklist for product design.

15. Preconditions for action
All five are
needed, at the
same time.
For the acronym
inclined, it’s the
CREATE
Action Funnel.
Users drop off at
each step, and
our products can
change that.

16. 3 strategies to pass the funnel
Conscious choice.
Build a habit.
Cheat.

17. Background
How we decide
Design
Refine
Next Up – Design
1
2
3
4

18. Applying the theory to products

19. Conceptual design: develop a story
How users progress from “just starting out” to “success!”
Customer experience map by Mel Edwards, desonance.wordpress.com

20. Build the story in 3 steps
1. Structure the Action
2. Design the
Environment
3. Prepare the User

21. Structure the Action:
Break down hard problems
Write out the sequence of steps.
Make each step pleasant.
Straightforward. “Easy”.
Tailor it to their prior experiences.
Skip ahead where possible.
Take the garden path.

22. Examples: Structure the Action

23. Construct the environment
to support action
Grab the user’s
attention.
Make sure the
motivation is clear.
Provide urgency.
Remove distractions.

24. Examples: Construct the environment

25. Page-Level Tactics to Support Action
Component: To Do This: Try This:
Cue Cue Action Tell the User What The Action Is
Increase Power of Cue Create Clear Affordances
Increase Power of Cue Clear the Page of Distractions
Reaction Increase Trust Make Site Beautiful and Professional
Increase Interest & Trust Social Proof
Increase Interest & Trust Display Strong Authority on Subject
Bypass Automatic Rejection Be Authentic and Personal
Evaluation Increase Motivation Prime User-Relevant Associations
Increase Motivation Loss Aversion
Increase Motivation Peer Comparison
Increase Motivation Peer Competition
Increase Motivation Make the Rewards Vivid
Decrease Costs Default Everything
Decrease Costs Lessen Burden of User Action (cheat)
Decrease Costs Reduce information required for user to proceed (simplify)
Decrease Costs Avoid choice overload
Ability Increase Logistical Ability Implementation Intentions
Decrease Resource Constraints Automate
Increase Sense of Feasibility (Self-Efficacy) (Positive) Peer Comparison
Time Pressure Increase Urgency Frame text to avoid temporal myopia
Increase Urgency Remind of prior commitment to act
Increase Urgency Make it scarce
Increase Urgency Make it time-sensitive

26. Prepare the user
Help users see
and tell the story
of their successes.
Build on related,
positive experiences.
Educate users
about how to do
take action.

27. Examples: Prepare the user

28. The goal: lock it in & move on.
Just get it done.
Make it a habit.
Fully automate it.
Automate tracking, and grab
attention where needed.

29. Background
How we decide
Design
Refine
Next Up – Refine
1
2
3
4

30. There are no behavioral magic wands…

31. Impact on the world:
Pounds lost (RunKeeper).
Dollars saved (HelloWallet).
Vacations taken (TripTribe).
Not vanity metrics:
Page views.
“Interest” on surveys.
Facebook friends.
Be absolutely clear on what you’re
shooting for.

32. Set the Benchmark for Action & Outcome
Controlled Experiments:
The Gold Standard
“Let’s see what the numbers look like”
Statistical Models w/ Controls

33. Build a data bridge
From behavior you
can measure
frequently in the app,
to the real-world
outcome that’s hard
to measure.

34. Improve impact: Find obstacles
Approach 1: Look at the data.
Approach 2: Ask users.
And then look at the data.
Find where there’s a problem
Find why there’s a problem

35. Causal Map: Where is the problem?

36. Action Funnel: Why is there a problem?

37. Fix it & Test It
Change something, measure something.
Rigor required depends on:
How big of an impact you’re looking for.
How much else is going on at the same time.
Whether the action is unique to the app.
Develop multiple testing platforms, for:
Cycle Time &
Accuracy

38. Remember this!
A) What: 5 preconditions for action B) How: Design in 3 stages
C) Then: Test. There are no magic wands.

39. THANK YOU!

40. More to read and apply
Section 1: The Mind and Behavior Change 1
Chapter 1: How the Mind Decides What to Do Next 2
Chapter 2: Why We Take Certain Actions and Not Others 17
Chapter 3: Strategies for Behavior Change 31
Section 2: Designing the Product 49
Chapter 4: Gathering Knowledge 51
Chapter 5: Structuring the Action 63
Chapter 6: Constructing the Environment 73
Chapter 7: Preparing the User 82
Chapter 8: From Conceptual Design to Interface Design 89
Chapter 9: Reviewing and Fleshing Out the Interface Designs 100
Chapter 10: Turning the Designs into Code 116
Section 3: Measuring and Improving the Product 120
Chapter 11: Setting the Benchmark: Measuring Impact 122
Chapter 12: Identifying Obstacles to Behavior Change 142
Chapter 13: Learning and Refining the Product 152
Section 4: Putting It Into Practice 161
Chapter 14: Picking Your Battles: Finding the Right Behavior to Change 162
Chapter 15: Common Questions and Pitfalls 177
Chapter 16: Conclusion 189
Appendixes (Glossary, Resources, Bibliography) 196

41. More on the decision making process

42. Pages of individual behavioral tactics
Component: To Do This: Try This:
Cue Cue Action Tell the User What The Action Is
Increase Power of Cue Create Clear Affordances
Increase Power of Cue Clear the Page of Distractions
Reaction Increase Trust Make Site Beautiful and Professional
Increase Interest & Trust Social Proof
Increase Interest & Trust Display Strong Authority on Subject
Bypass Automatic Rejection Be Authentic and Personal
Evaluation Increase Motivation Prime User-Relevant Associations
Increase Motivation Loss Aversion
Increase Motivation Peer Comparison
Increase Motivation Peer Competition
Increase Motivation Make the Rewards Vivid
Decrease Costs Default Everything
Decrease Costs Lessen Burden of User Action (cheat)
Decrease Costs Reduce information required for user to proceed (simplify)
Decrease Costs Avoid choice overload
Ability Increase Logistical Ability Implementation Intentions
Decrease Resource Constraints Automate
Increase Sense of Feasibility (Self-Efficacy) (Positive) Peer Comparison
Time Pressure Increase Urgency Frame text to avoid temporal myopia
Increase Urgency Remind of prior commitment to act
Increase Urgency Make it scarce
Increase Urgency Make it time-sensitive

43. Integration into an Agile process

44. @sawendel
sawendel@hellowallet.com
http://oreilly.com/go/behavior-change