Designing for Behavior Change: Applying Psychology and Behavioral Economics (2013)

Appendix A. Glossary of Terms

This book introduces many new concepts and terms, such as the “behavioral plan” and the “Create Action Funnel.” This glossary provides definitions of those terms, for your convenience. For the sake of brevity though, many of the common behavioral economics terms referenced in the book (e.g., “implementation intentions”) are not included here.

ability (per the Create Action Funnel):

a stage in the Create Action Funnel when the user evaluates whether or not she can take the target action now. The ability to take the target action has four criteria: knowing logistically how to take the action, having the resources necessary to act, having the skills necessary to act, and having a sense of self-efficacy or belief in success. See Create Action Funnel.

actor (aka target actor):

the person who takes action because of the product. When the actor takes the action, it causes the product’s outcome. See (target) action, (target) outcome.

action (aka target action):

the behavior that the design process seeks to engender. When the actor takes the action, it causes the product’s outcome. Note: “action” and “behavior” are used as synonyms throughout the book. See (target) actor, (target) outcome.

action sequence:

the sequence of small steps that the user is encouraged to take. The small steps lead up to a final, target action. The action sequence is the core narrative of the behavioral plan.

behavioral bridge:

a description that links a behavior that the user already knows and is comfortable with to a new, unfamiliar behavior. For example, an appeal to users that describes the (unfamiliar) act of running a race as similar to the (familiar) running around the office they normally do.

behavioral persona:

a stylized individual used to represent a group of users who are likely to respond similarly to an appeal to change their behavior. For example, the persona “active Jake” could represent users of the product who are active in their daily lives and would be likely to join a competition to see who exercises the most. See persona.

behavioral plan:

a detailed “story” of how the user progresses from being a neophyte to accomplishing the action while using the product. The “story” can take many forms, such as a journey map, written narrative, or a simple list of actions. The behavioral plan provides the conceptual design for the product, providing its functional requirements. See action sequence, conceptual design.

behavioral strategy:

a high-level strategy for changing behavior with a product. This book discusses three strategies: supporting the conscious choice to take the target action, building (or changing) habits, and “cheating.”

behavioral tactic:

a low-level technique for changing behavior in a product. For example: showing a peer comparison, highlighting loss aversion, or priming a particular mindset. See also behavioral strategy.

causal map:

a diagram showing the intended effect that the user’s actions within the product will have on the target outcome, along with additional, unintended factors that are likely to also impact the target outcome.

cheating (per behavioral strategies):

a strategy for changing behavior in which the burden of work is shifted from the user to the product, and the user need only give consent for the action to occur on his behalf. See behavioral strategy.

company objective:

what the company seeks to achieve, for itself, by building the product.

conceptual design:

a set of documents or illustrations that indicate what the product should do (i.e., what functionality the product should provide) at a conceptual level. When designing for behavior change, the behavioral plan fulfills this role. See behavioral plan.

context (of action):

the three factors that shape a user’s decision whether or not to act. Namely, the user himself, the environment the user is in, and the action the user is deciding upon.

Create Action Funnel:

a stylized model of how the mind makes the conscious decision to act. Once the mind detects a cue, it has an intuitive reaction, which may bubble up into conscious awareness for evaluation of the merits of action, and an assessment of whether the user has the ability and right timing to act. If all of these mental processes pass successfully without the user getting distracted or deciding against the action, the user will execute the action. Together, they spell the acronym “create.” See cue, reaction, evaluation, ability, timing.

cue (per habits):

something that causes a habit to occur. The cue can be something the person sees, hears, smells, or touches in the environment (an external cue) or an internal state like hunger (internal cue) that initiates the habitual routine.

cue (per the Create Action Funnel):

the first stage in the Create Action Funnel when something first makes the user think about taking the target action. The cue can be something the person sees, hears, smells, or touches in the environment (an external cue) or an internal state like hunger (internal cue) that starts the process of taking action. For habitual actions, the cue alone can be enough to cause the behavior to occur. See Create Action Funnel.

data bridge:

a mathematical relationship or statistical model that relates a target outcome outside of the product to behavior within the product. For example, “60% of the time that users indicate in the application that they will create a vegetable garden, they actually create one.”

designing for behavior change:

a four-stage process of designing a product with the specific purpose of changing user behavior. The four stages are: understanding how the mind makes decisions, discovering the behavioral goals of the product, designing the product around those goals, and refining the product over time.

design pattern for behavior change:

a template that describes a class of similar behavior-changing products (or product features). Within that class, the general functionality and look and feel of the products are the same. For example, exercise trackers.

dual process theory(ies):

a family of related theories in psychology that posit that the mind effectively has two independent decision-making processes: one deliberative, and one intuitive. The deliberative, or “System 2,” process is associated with intentional conscious thought. The intuitive, or “System 1,” process is associated with automatic, emotional reactions or implicit, “subconscious” behaviors.

environment (of action):

one of the three parts of the decision-making context (along with the user and the action itself) that shapes a user’s decision to act. The environment consists of the product that the person is interacting with and the physical environment surrounding the person when he decides whether or not to act. See context.

evaluation (per the Create Action Funnel):

the third stage in the Create Action Funnel, when the user consciously evaluates the value of taking the target action, often considering its costs and benefits. See Create Action Funnel.

external cue:

something in our environment that causes us to think about or take a certain action. See cue, internal cue.

extrinsic motivation:

the desire to achieve a particular outcome, such as receiving a reward for it (like money or winning a competition). See intrinsic motivation.

habit:

a repeated behavior that’s triggered by internal or external cues. A habit is automatic: the action occurs outside of conscious control, and we may not even be aware of it happening. Habits can be formed through simple cue-routine repetition or can include a reward that becomes associated with the cue and encourages the user to repeat the behavior. See cue, routine, reward.

interface design:

a set of documents or illustrations that says how the product should look and interact with the user.

internal cue:

a prior thought or bodily state (like hunger) that leads us to think about or take a certain action. See cue, external cue.

intrinsic motivation:

comes from the inherent enjoyment of the activity itself, without considering any external pressure or reward. See extrinsic motivation.

mindset:

a mental mechanism for interpreting and responding to the world, which shapes how we act. Mindsets as facets of the mind, which are built up in different contexts. Here, the term is used to encompass a range of psychological mechanisms that guide our behavior in ambiguous contexts, including schemas and activated frames.

Minimum Viable Action (MVA):

the shortest, simplest version of the target action that users can be asked to take, with which the company can still test whether the product has the desired impact on behavior. See target action.

outcome (aka target outcome):

the real-world impact that the company seeks to have because of the product. A measureable change in the world that happens when the product succeeds in changing behavior. When the actor takes the action, it causes the product’s outcome. See (target) actor, (target) action.

persona:

in the user experience field, a persona is a stylized individual used to represent a group of similar users, usually based on a particular demographic profile. See behavioral persona.

reaction (per the Create Action Funnel):

the second stage in the Create Action Funnel when the user has an automatic, System 1 reaction to the idea of taking action. That reaction renders an intuitive verdict (whether the action is interesting or not) based on prior associations with the action or similar experiences. It also activates thoughts about other possible actions the person could take. See Create Action Funnel.

reward (per habits):

something that gives us a reason to repeat a behavior. It might be something inherently pleasant, like good food, or the completion of a goal we’ve set for ourselves, like putting away all of the dishes.

routine (per habits):

the habitual action that a person takes when exposed to the habit’s cue. For example, buying Starbucks coffee whenever a person sees the Starbucks sign next to her office at 9 a.m. in the morning.

self-narrative:

how we label ourselves, and how we describe our behavior in the past.

small win:

a feeling of accomplishment after a (relatively small) action is taken.

timing (per the Create Action Funnel):

the fifth stage of the Create Action Funnel, in which the user determine when to act. See Create Action Funnel.

user story:

A term used in product development (especially agile development) for a plain-English statement about what the user needs. It captures the “who,” “what,” and “why” of a product requirement. For example, “As a user, I want to <take an action>, in order to <reason for action>.” Seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_story for more information.

vision (aka product vision):

why the product is being developed, at a high level.