High motivation leads to other desired behaviors, but as a designer, how do you know when this motivation is most accessible? View my slides to learn about 4 behavior patterns that point to this type of highly-motivated experience

1. 4 Behavior Patterns of
Highly Motivated People:
How a Motivation Wave affects behavior
Cristina Leos
(cristina.leos1@gmail.com)
Stanford University

2. What is a Motivation Wave?
A high-motivation state
which makes it easier
for someone to perform
other desired behaviors
For example: around New Year’s, people
are highly motivated to lose weight

3. A Motivation Wave is Powerful
The key is that this
state makes it
easier to do things
that normally are
hard or time-
consuming
On a motivation wave, you
might wake up before Photo credit: EPR Marketing
work to go out for a walk
when you usually snooze
until the last minute

4. ?
So how do we know
someone is on a
Motivation Wave?

5. Track 4 Behaviors
leisure
purchases
activities
technology
conversation
use

6. Purchases
A Motivation Wave can lead to increases
in specific types of purchases or several
related purchases
Someone motivated to walk more
might buy a new pair of walking shoes
or maybe a new water bottle or an
armband for their iPod (or all three!)
Photo credit: Forbes.com

7. Leisure Activities
What percentage of their leisure time is
spent doing passive vs. active activities?
Highly motivated people are less likely to spend time
passively watching TV or surfing the internet
Their activities are likely to be more
structured and focused, like searching
for new walking routes near home
Photo credit: Baselineintel.com

8. Technology Use
Think about how they are using their time
on the internet and on their mobile device.
Highly motivated people will likely spend
more time engaging with items related to
their desired outcome.
A motivated person might spend more
time searching for information such as
the health benefits of walking or
posting updates onto social media Photo credit: Geocentric

9. Conversation
People experiencing a Motivation Wave
are more likely to verbally express
excitement and motivation. They may
introduce new topics or increase the
frequency with which they visit certain
topics
If suddenly your co-worker can’t stop
talking about how relaxed he feels now
that he walks every day, it is likely
Photo credit: Utah
State University he is highly motivated

10. When one or more of these behavior
patterns are present, someone is
experiencing a Motivation Wave

11. This high-motivation state is the best time
to
structure future behavior,
make specific behaviors easy to do,
and gain skills
so that the desired outcome is reached.

12. Identifying when someone is experiencing it
means that structured behavioral
interventions can have greater
success.
Someone who is already highly motivated
to walk can be prompted to make it a
habit, and will probably experience
another
Motivation Wave, too!

13. Use these 4 behavior patterns
to identify who is highly motivated
and maximize your potential for
successful behavior change!

14. Want to hear more about
behavior design, motivation,
and other useful things?
Email me:
cristina.leos1@gmail.co
m
or
follow me on Twitter:
@consider_change