Designing for behavior change: Applying psychology and behavioral economics

This is a summary of the 2020 edition of the book.

For many people there is a huge gap between their intention to act, and what actually happens. Stephen Wendel has written a book to help solve behavioral problems with product design. He explains how our minds work and provides frameworks with actionable steps about how to design products to intentionally change behavior in the best interest of the users.

Individual behavior shapes society.

Wrong behavior of individuals leads to big-picture social issues. Often, the problem is not a lack of information or motivation. We know what is right, but too often we struggle with taking actions. For many people there is a huge gap between their sincere intention to act, and what actually happens. This is known as the intention-action gap. Research shows that people don’t always make decisions and take action in a straightforward way. People struggle in different ways. Too often, they struggle to turn their motivation into action or they struggle to make good decisions. To help others (or to help ourselves) to take action when needed, we must first understand how our minds are wired.

Why do we need behavioral sciences in product design?

Sometimes people use a product but make a series of bad choices out of old habits. They can’t succeed at their goals because of the behaviors they have learned before. Lessons from behavioral science can help to understand behaviors better. When designing digital products, systems or services, we need to take into account how we think and how our minds work. Then we can adjust products to the way we think. If we want to intentionally change behavior in the best interest of the users, we need to build up a deep understanding of how our minds work.

Our minds use shortcuts.

Our attention is limited, and so is our memory and our willpower. That’s why our minds use shortcuts to help us to use our limited…