![]()
Part 1
Design for behaviour change
Its background and significance
![]()
1 Introduction
Designing for behavioural change
Kristina Niedderer, Stephen Clune and Geke Ludden
Design impacts every part of our lives. The design of products and services we encounter in all areas and walks of life influences the way we go about our daily activities. It is hard to imagine any activity of our daily lives that is not dependent on a designed artefact in some capacity. Our clothing, mobile phones, computers, cars, tools and kitchenware all enable and hold in place our everyday practices. Design impacts our built and natural environment through urban planning and architecture, and it impacts our health and safety by promoting or restricting activities that may or may not be healthy, or cause harm. Cooper et al. (2011) explain that in the past 100 years, âwe have designed systems of transport, work, and entertainment that mean we are less activeâ (p. 135) and which can be counter productive to our health where they lead to a lack of exercise. Simultaneously designers have improved the diagnostic and treatment devices for the non-communicable diseases affected by this lack of exercise (Cooper et al., 2011). Design can furthermore shape our views and expectations of how we should behave in our world through its implicit values. For instance, designs of the mobile phone and web 2.0 platforms have changed the way we interact and plan for work and leisure, as well as shifting the expectations for when and where we are available.
The influence of design has been far reaching, with consequences not only intended, but also frequently unintended and often undesirable with regard to its effects on the environment or on our health and wellbeing. One example is the interior design of supermarkets, product offerings, food packets and related advertising material, which have all been designed (separately or together) to increase sales. However, the accumulative effect on diets may be found to have a much wider (although hopefully unintended) consequence of contributing to the rise in obesity and diabetes in Western society. While the unintended consequences of obesity are clearly undesirable, the intentional aim by industry to make a profit clearly holds a different perspective, which is demonstrated by continued attempts from lobby groups to water down regulations on sugar (Novak & Brownell, 2011), for example.
There is an increasing call on designers in the widest sense to draw attention towards, and respond to negative social and environmental issues. There is also a recent body of work focussing on how designâs influence may be used to intentionally steer changes to improve a range of problematic social and environmental issues. However, despite designâs clear influence on human behaviour and an emerging body of work on design and behavioural change, the understanding of how to intentionally use design to create change is fragmented, with limited frameworks for its effective implementation in professional and public contexts (Niedderer et al., 2014; Niedderer et al., 2016).
This edited volume on design for behavioural change therefore takes as its focus this body of work that deals with the influence of design: to review and contextualize existing approaches, and to explore the various perspectives and avenues available for positive change. This book thus aims to offer a thorough discussion about the understanding and responsible application of design in general, and design for behaviour change in particular, to contribute to and expand on current understandings of how we can (and should) design for behaviour change. In the remainder of this chapter, we elaborate and define the terminology and key themes that are used throughout the book and provide an overview of its approach, structure and individual chapters.
Defining design and design for behaviour change
âDesignâ is a much used, and not seldom misunderstood or even misused term. Hence, some clarification on terminology will be helpful to our readers to clarify our position and what we mean by design and behaviour change in this book.
From a linguistic point of view, the term âdesignâ can be used either as a noun or verb. As a noun, it generally denotes the outcome of a design process â a product in the widest sense, whether a physical thing, service or idea. As a verb, âdesignâ or âdesigningâ denotes a process that is used to change an existing situation into one that is preferred (Simon, 1969: 129). This process commonly includes different phases (creative ideation, development with or without stakeholders etc.).
The traditional notion of design is often associated narrowly with a physical âproductâ, e.g. graphic design creates graphics, product design products, furniture design furniture, interior design interiors etc. However, the physical âproductâ as an output from design is becoming less dominant with the emergence of service design; co-design, and the shift to a more virtual world. Both are contributing increasingly to blurring the nature of the outcomes of design. Thus design âproductsâ may encompass any output from craft, fashion, product, urban, games, service or policy design, etc. We therefore use the term âdesignâ to refer to more than just physical objects, and associate the term broadly across the spectrum of design professions, including product and industrial design, packaging, interior and fashion design, interaction, game, service and service systems design, urban planning and others.
In terms of design as a process, we adhere to Simonâs notion that designers in the process of designing are engaged generally not in describing existing situations, but in transforming existing situations into preferred ones (Simon, 1969: 129). Design as a process then is a way of thinking
characterized by the capacity to use intuition and creativity for generating insights and solutions, rationality to analyze the necessary information and fit solutions in relation to a particular context, and empathy to understand the complexity of a problem from multiple perspectives. Design seesaws between subjective and objective knowledge and draws from a conscious inclusion of subjective perceptions and hunches and relates them to analysis and factual knowledge.
(Clune et al., 2014: 6)
The notion of behaviour change in relation to design also requires some consideration. One of the key aspects of design is that it is related closely to both behaviour and change. Design is related to behaviour in that any artefact created affords an action by the user because of its function, whether physical, symbolic or social. (Ligo, 1984) and through its affordances, design can enable or stifle particular behaviours (Norman, 1988) creating change. Following a combination of behavioural economic and functional emotional approaches (Minton & Khale, 2014, Keltner & Gross, 1999, Keltner & Haidt, 1999, Roseman et al., 1994), we understand behaviour in the context of this book generally as peopleâs actions in response to other people, things, environments and contexts, and as informed or affected by emotions as well as social and cultural preconceptions, with the purpose of negotiating external factors and internal goals.
As a distinct term, âdesign for behaviour(al) changeâ is perceived as contentious in some areas, particularly when it has a focus overtly placed on the individual, and where it might be perceived as manipulation of the individual. Some people therefore have a preference for talking simply about âdesigning for changeâ. However, we believe that the acknowledgement of human action in the design decision-making process as well as in its outcomes is important, and that the terms behaviour(al) change and design for behaviour change, are both terms widely understood and express this emphasis. Hence, we retain this terminology with the explicit acknowledgement of taking a broader view that encompasses both the individual and the environment as important factors for creating change. Accordingly, in this book, we seek to explore the full gamut of possibilities on how design may influence behaviours and environments to create change.
What the book sets out to do
Design for Behaviour Change can be a useful tool to address the multiple societal and environmental challenges that we face today that require action. However, as previous research has shown, design for behaviour change at present is neither fully recognized nor understood (Niedderer et al., 2014; Niedderer et al., 2016). This book therefore aims to offer a thorough discussion of both the theoretical and practical approaches to design for behaviour change to help improve its understanding and extend its application and responsible use.
To address this aim, the book takes two approaches: first, it provides an overview of current and emerging theories, approaches and tools of design for behaviour change with an explanation of the different scientific backgrounds and theories from the social and behavioural sciences they draw on. Second, it offers a discussion of their application in five different key contexts to demonstrate the relevance and effectiveness of design for behaviour change in these areas, including sustainability, health, safety, crime prevention and social issues. This book takes a broad sweep across these five key areas that are normally treated individually to bring them together and allow for both their comparison and a broad overview of the field. Through this dual approach, the book seeks to offer both theoretical understanding and practical guidance for researchers, design professionals, managers, design students and others interested in instigating positive change. It offers an overview of and new perspectives on the range of tools and techniques that have been developed for and used in the different sectors within the field.
The book proceeds in four parts. Part 1 (Chapters 1 and 2) offers an introduction to design for behaviour change in general, including a brief history, a discussion of design and its relationship to change, and the challenges faced in the 21st century. The aim of this part is to set the scene and context for the following parts of the book.
Because of designâs close link with people and their behaviour, design draws regularly on behaviour change models from the behavioural and social sciences. In line with some of these theories, which we explore further throughout this book, Part 2 (Chapters 3â13) provides an overview of current and emerging design for behaviour change theories, models and tools including an explanation of the different scientific backgrounds and their adoption within design. Chapter 3 offers an introductory overview and a framework for mapping the different approaches presented throughout Part 2. The following four chapters introduce more general models and tools for how design for behaviour change theories can influence issues of sustainability. Chapter 4 introduces the Product Impact Tool, a tool that offers four perspectives on how theories of behaviour can be adopted within design practice and helps to address social and ethical questions concerning innovations. Chapter 5 presents a framework for designing interventions for sustainable behaviour from a user experience point of view. Chapter 6 presents the Design with Intent toolkit, a design pattern collection which aims to facilitate exploration of problem-solution spaces in behaviour change contexts, including sustainability but also other contexts. Chapter 7 again focuses specifically on sustainability presenting the Dimensions of Behaviour Change tool, which offers a âcrash courseâ for designers in how the mind of the user works.
Part 2 goes on to introduce two chapters that present theories on design for behaviour change that are related to health and wellbeing. In Chapter 8, support in changing health-related behaviour is then coupled to the notion of âStages of Changeâ, introducing the Design for Healthy Behaviour framework. Chapter 9 again takes a more general approach to behaviour change and introduces mindfulness theory into design, focussing on how mindful design can promote responsible behaviour change. The following three chapters draw upon theories from sociology and psychology and provide insight into how these might be used in design for behaviour change with regard to broader considerations of user practices. In Chapter 10, social practice theory is introduced to explain how designers can study and draw upon user practices to change behaviour. Chapter 11 is underpinned by the philosophy of ontological designing looking at the potential role of futuring (forecasting, future scenarios and back casting) as a strategy to enable or disable future behaviours and practices of users from taking place. Finally, in Chapter 12, the experience of being influenced is discussed. The chapter focuses in detail on the perspective of the user and discusses the hidden influence of design. Chapter 13 concludes Part 2 with a review of the tools and case studies presented. It provides an analysis of how the different theories, models and tools compare and relate and offers a visual overview to map the field, its progress and gaps.
Part 3 (Chapters 14â20) focuses on the contexts in which these tools may be applied, illustrating the application of theories, approaches and tools to a variety of case studies. Chapter 14 provides the introduction to Part 3. It introduces the five application domains, including Sustainability, Health and Wellbeing, Safety, Design against Crime and Social Design, and discusses the broad challenges that these five domains face.
In Chapter 15, the challenges related to the domain of sustainability are presented with respect to reducing carbon dioxide emissions, by applying design for behavioural change strategies within the themes of energy, food, transport and consumption. Two case studies are discussed in depth in relation to encouraging cycling patronage in cities, and understanding end usersâ conceptualization of energy. Chapter 16 discusses how design for behaviour change will be of growing importance in the broad domain of health and wellbeing. Three case studies are provided with respect to reducing sugary drink intake, dementia care and wellbeing in the workplace. These are used to discuss how a variety of design for behaviour change approaches might be used in this domain. Chapter 17introduces design for safety approaches and offers case studies of how theory has been applied by either designing away safety risks (e.g. via the fitment of guards, safety rails etc.) or utilizing design for behavioural change strategies to create a culture of safety. Chapter 18 and 19 go on to offer more social perspectives on design for behaviour change. Chapter 18 introduces multiple perspectives to design against crime, via an introduction to situated crime prevention, proposing more participatory and collaborative design-led approaches to behaviour change. Chapter 19 discusses the impact of design on social situations, exploring behaviour change in relation to doing âsocial goodâ as well as its influence on âsocial interactionâ. The chapter presents six case studies that address design activism, innovation in communities, bottom-up participatory design processes, pedestrian-friendly streets and social media, with two case studies focussing on the intent, process and outcomes of the interventions respectively. Finally, in Chapter 20, we offer an overview of how the range of design for behavioural change approaches have been applied in the different domains to create desirable change. The chapter highlights the importance of a holistic approach to creating change that applies a combination of cognitive and context-based strategies.
Part 4 provides the conclusion to the book in two chapters. Chapter 21 provides an overview and reflection of the outcomes and findings of the discussion, as well as considerations of limitations of the book, gaps and future work in the area of design for behaviour change. Chapter 22 finally draws some broader reflections of the challenges and opportunities of design for behaviour change with regard to its future uses and benefits.
Through its four parts, this volume presents a wide overview of approaches and viewpoints of design for behaviour change as well as considerations of its benefits and limits. The book has arisen from the work on an Arts and Humanities Design in Innovation Research Grant (AH/L0135...
