Talk to the Elephant: Design Learning for Behavior Change

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Designing Responsibly

(IN WHICH WE CONSIDER THE WELL-BEING OF BOTH THE RIDER AND THE ELEPHANT)

I once gave a talk on techniques to support behavior change. After the talk, someone came up and explained they were looking to encourage the behavior of employees working more than 40 hours per week.

My response:

Not one of my more profound moments. But I didn’t really know what to say, considering I didn’t think this was a good idea.

My impression was that the employees were knowledge workers, so it wasn’t a situation where paid overtime was likely. People who are exhausted and overworked often have diminished productivity, so in addition to ...