Don't blindly design a solution because you saw it worked elsewhere 🛑
The problem with memorizing tactics in behavioral science is that we cannot know what really is going to work for our specific context and outcome without first understanding the problem and the people we are trying to help.
Look, there is no shortage of tactics, biases, and nudges, but they are not meant to be the recipe for you to take and copy.
To be fair and probably unpopular, I rarely, if ever use cognitive biases in my behavioral work, it just does not feel natural to me to be so reductionist and pick a bias and say, yup that will work.
Under very controlled conditions, what happens in a lab may not replicate in the real world, so you first have to start by understanding the problem in behavioral terms and listing out all the things that matter before you jump into solution mode.
With that said, I do look at papers and read what was done, because it helps me think of what we could do for our specific situation and see if the evidence can help guide us to design and test our hypothesis.
Not that it needs to really be said, but Strategy is not Tactics, sorry to burst the bubble, but giving someone a reward is the last thing you decide on, not the first one. (as the question in the image says)
Perhaps this is why so many products and services are missing the mark with customers, because there is so much left behind, from a behavior change perspective, they are super tactical, and rarely do they get to the actual problem, or job to be done, behavior to be enabled part.
So while it is tempting to jump on using a "Nudge" a Bias, or a tactic that is circulating on social media or the web, please don't go blindly and do it.
I leave you with this...
Keep the tactics, but don't use them until you know the strategy
#behavioralscience #digitaltransformation #servicedesign