Stage 1: Grab Attention
Make it inviting: Draw people in with eye-catching aesthetics, engaging storytelling, or compelling motion design.
Elicit an emotional reaction: Create designs that stand out and remain memorable by appealing to our emotions whether that’s surprise, curiosity, or urgency
Show personalized content: People respond strongly to messaging that is customized and relevant based on their behaviors, interests, and values.
Stage 2: Influence Decisions
Provide clear, straightforward content: Eliminate jargon and make your message specific and simple to understand. Offer content that answers a person’s questions and helps them make an informed choice.
Offer recommendations: People will be more compelled to do something when they’re provided clear next steps or options. Users value suggestions and personalized advice from experts or trusted sources.
Describe the benefits: People want to know what’s in it for them. This might include extrinsic rewards (money, rebates), lifestyle benefits (comfort), or appeal to a person’s intrinsic motivations and values.
Reframe the message: Alter perceptions and encourage action using behavioral science messaging. Anchor people toward a specific choice, persuade them through scarcity, or use social motivators such as social comparison or social proof.
Stage 3: Facilitate Action
Simplify the action: Break down target actions into small, achievable steps. Reduce cognitive load on a user by simplifying an interface, chunking information, or introducing progressive disclosure.
Guide the experience. Shape the experience in a way that facilitates action. Common techniques include walkthroughs, callouts, or pre-determined defaults.
Help users create a plan: Encourage people to set goals and commit to actions. Send reminders and follow up on their progress over time.
Trigger at the right moment: Timing is critical—make sure you trigger a person to take action during the times they are most motivated and able to take action.
Stage 4. Sustain behavior
Celebrate progress. Reward people with positive feedback and show progress over time. Consider a variable rewards schedule to increase engagement and reinforce behavior change.
Build a long term relationship. Rather than one-time communications, design for experiences that extend over time and improve as we learn more about the people using our products.
Emphasize intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is the strongest driver of long-term behavior change. Research shows that people are drawn to experiences that give them a sense of purpose, social connection, status, self expression, mastery, and autonomy.
Comments