Talk to the Elephant: Design Learning for Behavior Change

3

Moving Along the Change Path

(IN WHICH THE ELEPHANT MEANDERS DOWN THE CHANGE PATH AT ITS OWN PACE)

Change is complex because people are complex, and we live in a complex world. Consequently, we can conclude that there are no simple answers to designing to support behavior change. One thing that I think we can say with some confidence (in the overwhelming majority of cases) is

Change is a process, not an event.

There are certainly stories about lightning strike moments for people who have done things like suddenly deciding to put down the cigarette pack and never smoke again or opting to become a vegetarian or swearing off phone use while driving after having a scary near-miss while texting in traffic. These examples aren’t a great model for ...