Designing for Behavior Change, 2nd Edition

Preface

Eight years ago, when I started writing the first edition of this book, behavioral science consisted of a few prominent researchers and PhD students scattered across business schools and psych departments, along with some humorous books about the mistakes people make. Very few companies were trying to bridge the gap between academic theory and real products that helped real people in their lives. Personally, I had to scrounge to find companies where anyone was even familiar with the research, let alone formally trained in it. The idea of intentionally designing products to change user behavior was strange or even alarming to many people. There were pockets of innovative work—from the UK government’s Nudge Unit to BJ Fogg’s Persuasive Technology Lab to the behavioral consulting firm ideas42—but they were not well known outside of their communities.

That’s all changed now. In partnership with the Action Design Network and the Behavioral Science Policy Association—two nonprofit organizations dedicated to fostering the practical application of behavioral science, which didn’t exist eight years ago—we recently surveyed the landscape of applied behavioral science. Over two hundred teams, representing behavioral science teams with over 1,500 members, responded—and we know there are many more out there.

There are now dedicated teams applying behavioral science to develop new products, communications, and policies that serve their users across the world: from Qatar to Spokane, ...