Photo of a neon ‘change’ sign.
I’m sharing my tried-and-tested framework on how to design products and services for behavioural change. It’s applicable to all types of behavioural change, though my experience is connected to real-world problems—for example things relating to health, education, bullying and hate speech.
I always look at this framework alongside Figma, and I use it to ground myself. It’s not prescriptive enough to tell you how to design — that’s where research and data come in. But it will help you identify specific moments of a journey to ideate and push work further.
Step 1: Get people’s attention
There are 5 things I like to follow:
- Help people recognise themselves in the message. Address people’s emotions and identities.
- Address things competing for their attention — like self-doubt, competing demands, social pressure.
- Use familiar language—the words that people use. This is what resonates, otherwise you’re creating an unnecessary barrier.
- Be a trustworthy source. Attribute a voice or an actor where you can, so that the person has a reason to focus on what you’re trying to say.
- Be captivating. This makes the message harder to ignore.
Step 2: Tell people what they have to do
This is how this one breaks down:
- Be specific — help people picture themselves carrying out the action. Make this as concrete as you can.
- Give people all the info they need to move forward. If there are dependencies or complications, don’t hide behind them.
- Create and signpost next steps. Leave no room for ambiguity.
- Convey appropriate urgency and timelines. Without a deadline, people are unlikely to move forward.
- Be clear who takes responsibility. If there’s something that the company or a third-party actor needs to do, acknowledge it.
Step 3: Motivate them to act
Finally, you want people to actually make the change. Here are some things that I’ve found to work:
- Show people consequences of not doing the thing. This applies the necessary pressure.
- Make following the instructions very compelling. Words of encouragement help here, but make sure to be tonally sensitive.
- Help people feel empowered to act. Put the ball in their court.
- Make the next steps sound fun, interesting or intriguing. It doesn’t have to be all three though.
