ENGAGED
DESIGNING FOR BEHAVIOR CHANGE
Amy Bucher
NEW YORK 2020
“Engaged draws from the latest science on behavior change and compelling examples to teach design professionals to create world-class products that make big impacts on users’ lives. Clearly written and well-researched, Engaged is a great addition to any designer’s toolkit.”
—Scott Sonenshein,
Rice University professor and bestselling author of
Stretch and Joy at Work
“An incredibly comprehensive and intelligent guidebook for designing products and services that change people’s lives.”
—Nir Eyal,
Bestselling author of Hooked and Indistractable
“A book is only as good as the behavior it changes, and in this practical guide, Bucher focuses on combining rigorous application with an approachable voice. The product of over a decade of experience across a variety of domains, Engaged is a unique contribution that is well worth reading for anyone who wants to create change in the world, particularly in a digital medium.”
—Matt Wallaert,
Author of Start at the End: How to Build Products That Create Change
“Amy’s book is shockingly practical, showcases the impact of behaviors on design in practice, and provides clear tips and approaches you can immediately employ to benefit your work.”
—Alyssa Boehm,
User experience executive
“Bucher proves in this step-by-step guide that behavior change design is valuable to all areas of design.”
—Lis Pardi,
Experience Design Manager, Toast
“Interest in behavioral economics has exploded in recent years as product teams strive to empower people to achieve meaningful goals. For all on that journey—entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, product managers, designers, researchers, engineers—this is a comprehensive playbook that translates behavioral economic theory into practical, actionable, and ethical design techniques.”
—Jen Cardello,
VP, Head of UX Research & Insights, Fidelity Investments
“I have witnessed large audiences of people be mesmerized by Amy Bucher’s presentations on digital health and behavior change design. She makes the topic approachable bringing academic theory to life through relevant examples and actionable insights. This book proves to be an essential guide for digital health innovation, moving beyond shiny objects to define what will truly deliver engagement and improved outcomes.”
—Amy Heymans,
Co-founder and chief experience officer of Mad*Pow
“This book demystifies the psychology behind behavior change and offers practical methods and examples for applying it to product design. A worthwhile introduction for anyone trying to help users achieve health, financial, or other goals.”
— Kim Goodwin,
Author of Designing for the Digital Age
Engaged
Designing for Behavior Change
By Amy Bucher
Rosenfeld Media LLC
125 Maiden Lane, Suite 209
New York, New York 10038
USA
On the Web: www.rosenfeldmedia.com
Please send errors to: [email protected]
Publisher: Louis Rosenfeld
Managing Editor: Marta Justak
Interior Layout Tech: Danielle Foster
Cover Design: The Heads of State
Indexer: Marilyn Augst
Proofreader: Sue Boshers
© 2020 Amy Bucher
All Rights Reserved
ISBN: 1-933820-42-X
ISBN 13: 978-1-933820-42-2
LCCN: 2019956911
Printed and bound in the United States of America
For Bob and Melissa
My OGs
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
Who Should Read This Book
This book is for anyone who wants to apply behavior change science to the design and development of digital products. Whether you’re a social scientist working to change people’s behaviors through apps, websites, and other digital tools, or a product manager, researcher, or designer who wants to infuse behavior science into your work, this book is for you.
What’s in This Book
Chapter 1, “A Kind of Magic: Psychology and Design Belong Together,” introduces the concept of behavior change design and identifies some of the domains in which it is used. You’ll learn about the self-determination theory of motivation, which provides the underlying structure for the rest of the book. According to self-determination theory, the most long-lasting motivation comes when people’s needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness are supported.
Then, in Chapter 2, “Pictures of Success: Measurement and Monitoring,” you’ll learn about measuring and monitoring to ensure that your product is on track to achieve desired outcomes. Although most people think of outcomes assessment as something that happens late in the process, the seeds for a successful measurement strategy are planted at the very start of a behavior change design project.
The next chapters of the book talk about ways to support autonomy through digital design. Chapter 3, “It’s My Life: Making Meaningful Choices,” is about offering users meaningful choices as they approach behavior change, while Chapter 4, “Weapon of Choice: Make Decisions Easier,” focuses on making choices easier for people so that they can end up on the right path more quickly.
The next set of chapters focus on supporting competence. In Chapter 5, “Something in the Way: Diagnosing Ability Blockers,” you’ll learn about using research to identify the things that block and boost users’ ability to achieve their goals. Chapter 6, “Fix You: Solving Ability Blockers,” is about linking those findings to features that help users overcome obstacles. And in Chapter 7, “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger: Designing for Growth,” you’ll learn about structuring goals, milestones, and feedback to keep users moving toward success.
Relatedness can be supported through connection. In Chapter 8, “Come Together: Design for Connection,” I share how digital products can facilitate relationships between people. Then, in Chapter