How to design behaviours

Closing the knowing-doing gap

Change can be difficult, but it's not because of us. It is our approach to change that is the problem, not us. It is not a person problem, but a design and process problem.

Knowing this, how can we achieve lasting change?

According to research, information alone is not enough to change behaviour. We all know things or do behaviours we should not be doing (like smoking, drinking alcohol, eating sugary products..) but we keep doing them anyway: the famous knowing-doing gap.

We need to feel good about the change we're making, not bad.

How to design behaviours?
BJ Fogg, PhD at Stanford University created a simple but powerful model to design and create behaviours and habits.

BEHAVIOR = Motivation (desire) & Ability (capacity) & Prompt (cue / trigger) converge at the same time.

Key facts about behaviour design

• The more motivated you are to do a behaviour, the more likely you are to do the behaviour.

• The harder a behaviour is to do, the less likely you are to do it

• The easier a behaviour is to do, the more likely the behaviour becomes an HABIT.

• Motivation and ability work together like team mates: the amount you have in one affects the amount you need for the other.

• The more you do a behaviour, the easiest it gets.

• No behaviour happens without a prompt.

• Disrupt a behaviour you do not want by removing the prompt.