2011 Master's Thesis Presentation

Designing for Behavior Change
Identifying communication design components that encourage and empower
individuals to act in environmentally-responsible ways

Jenny Shirey, CPID
Master of Design 2011 candidate
Carnegie Mellon University
Thesis Poster Presentation
April 14, 2011

Context Exploratory Generative Roadmap Future

Designing for behavior change

Problem

COMMUNICATION ENVIRONMENTAL
DESIGN knowledge gap PSYCHOLOGY

Designing for Behavior Change: Poster Presentation Jenny Shirey, Carnegie Mellon University, April 14, 2011


Bridging the gap

My goal is to close the knowledge gap
by connecting communication designers
with insights and methods to encourage
environmentally-responsible habits



Case study: bottled water

Potential for change
» Opportunity to increase awareness
» Individual behavior change makes sense



Audience: 25- to 40-year-old adults

Potential for change
» Didn’t grow up with same emphasis on being “green”
as today’s children
» Being eco-friendly isn’t their first priority
» Generally willing to help out and try new behaviors



Exploratory research

Research toward generalizable knowledge
» One-week journal study
» Contextual interviews
» Varying responses to tone and subject matter of images & texts



Generative research

Study question
» How does a communication piece affect a person’s behavior
when matched to interests, learning style, and preferred emotional tone?



Communication piece

Variables
Learning style Emotional tone Interests

Interactive Humorous Animals

or or or

Video Matter-of-fact Waste

or or

Dramatic Money



Communication piece

Variables

Video

Humorous

Waste



Two-week study

Study flow
Track bottled water
Answer YES Interview
1 WEEK

Track bottled water
Pre-survey Artifact COMMIT?
1 WEEK

MATCHED
Track bottled water
Answer NO Interview
1 WEEK



Generative research

Resulting behavior change

Said the piece changed their feelings YES

Committed to not drinking
YES
bottled water for 1 week

Drank less bottled water (week 2) YES

Didn’t drink any bottled water (week 2) YES



Study results

Findings
» Changing feelings led to behavior change
» Tracking primed participants for change
» One-week commitment encouraged people to try the new behavior
» Easy action plan
» Follow up study: mismatching: no indication that matching affected
behavior (narrative too similar?)



Final design

Gathering findings
» Observations and ideas for practical application
» Design roadmap: a tool for communication designers



DESIGN SHOULD BE:
Transparent
Empowering
Caring
Open-minded
Humble

ETHICAL
PRINCIPLES



OBSERVATION EXAMPLE:
Educational campaigns
work well in some
situations and poorly
in others

ERVATIONS
OBS

Guiding

ETHICAL
PRINCIPLES



APPLICATION EXAMPLE:
Decide whether you
L I C AT I ON I D E A S
need to combine an A PP
educational campaign
with other methods

ERVATIONS
OBS

Guiding

ETHICAL
PRINCIPLES



ortunities & const
ng opp raint
D efni s
STRUCTURE:
LIC AT I ON I D E A
Five phases of an A PP S
ideal communication
design process

Di
ge

sc
an

ov
ch
ERVATIONS

er
OBS
r

ing
vio
ha

n
ee d
be
li n g

s, d
enab

esire
s, & ex
Encouraging &

pectations
ETHICAL
PRINCIPLES
Cr
af
ti n

th
g

e
de
sig
n ge
ssa
me
gthe
in
Fr a m



ortunities & const
ng opp raint
D efni s
POINTS OF ENTRY:
LIC AT I ON I D E A
Questions to ask A PP S
before exiting and
entering each phase

Di
ge

sc
an

ov
ch
ERVATIONS

er
OBS
r

ing
vio
ha

n
ee d
be
li n g

s, d
enab

esire
s, & ex
Encouraging &

pectations
ETHICAL
PRINCIPLES
Cr
af
ti n

th
g

e
de
sig
n ge
ssa
me
gthe
in
Fr a m



ortunities & const
ng opp raint
D efni s
CATEGORIES:
LIC AT I ON I D E A
A PP S
Guiding C
C
observation C B
C

Di
ge
Context B

sc
an

ov
ch
ERVATIONS

er
OBS
r

ing
vio
Emotions ha B B

n
I E E

ee d
be

C I E
Knowledge,
li n g

s, d
B B
information B
enab

esire
E E E
B

s, & ex
Encouraging &

Behaviors B B E E
I

pectations
I E
I ETHICAL I
PRINCIPLES I
E I
E B
I I
I
I E
I E
I E
I I I E E
I E
E
I I I E E
I
Cr

I E
af
ti n

th E
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e I
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sig C
n E ge
B ssa
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Fr a m



Sample page
Defining Discovering Framing Crafting Enabling Consider the context of your audience

Observation I Educational campaigns work well in
some situations and poorly in others

Educational campaigns work best with behaviors that are low-cost and simple to do. “Education approaches work only Quotes
If the behavior is very expensive or time-consuming, or participants have to overcome
major external barriers, an education approach alone will usually be ineffective.
when the main barriers to action
are internal to the individual.”
Personal Observations —Gardner & Stern, page 92
For my studies, I focused on the issue of bottled water. Because most people were
Findings from my unaware of bottled water’s harmful effects, and because drinking tap water is a low- “...conventional wisdom [...] is
cost, easy behavior, I chose to create educational campaigns.
research studies oversimplified and misleading.
Some of my participants, though, said their tap water at home was not safe. Although The research shows that
this could have been a misconception, if true, this was an external barrier that would
require methods in addition to education. For example, my participants might need education can help but [is]
to buy a water filter; or the city might need a better filtration system or stricter anti- rarely sufficient.”
pollution regulations. —Gardner & Stern, page 72

Application idea How can I put this into practice? Where can I find out more? Resources
Gardner, Gerald T., and Paul C. Stern. “Educational Inter-
ventions: Changing Attitudes and Providing Information.” In
C Research barriers for the behavior you’re addressing Environmental Problems and Human Behavior, 71–94. Boston:
Allyn and Bacon, 1996.
McKenzie-Mohr, Doug. “Promoting Sustainable Behavior:
I Decide whether you need to combine an educational campaign with other methods An Introduction to Community-Based Social Marketing.”
Journal of Social Issues 56, no. 3 (2000): 543-554.
Schultz, P. Wesley. “Knowledge, Information, and Household
Recycling.” In New Tools for Environmental Protection:
Education, Information, and Voluntary Measures, edited by
Thomas Dietz and Paul C. Stern, by National Research
Council, 67-82. 1st ed. Washington DC: National Academy
Press, 2002.

Page 9



Final thoughts

Potential impact
» Closes the knowledge gap
» Gives communication designers practical tips for behavior change
» Provides ethical principles to use when designing for behavior change
» Might be useful for other types of behavior change



For future research
» What are effects of varying the narrative structure
of a communication piece?
» Develop ethical principles further
» Test the Roadmap with my audience


2011 Master's Thesis Presentation

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