Background
There is an undeniable increase of behaviour related challenges in society rooted in poor choice of behaviour, and the inability of conventional approaches to tackle them [1]. Two examples are: the increase of diabetes in Denmark [2], and continuous poor compliance of medicine [3]. In both examples the consequences are increasing pressure and costs in the health care sector as well as sub-optimal wellbeing of patients.
To tackle challenges like these technology alone is not enough, as they need to be approached from a behavioural perspective as well; both to understand how and why the undesired behaviour exists, and how it might be changed.
Behavioural design has shown to be a promising way of improving solutions dealing with behavioural challenges in society [1] [4]. However, even though many studies focusing on explaining human behaviour have already been conducted; only a few focus on the practical application of design for behaviour change in design work [1] [5] resulting in challenges in applying behavioral design in practice.
Project objectives
The project combines designing thinking, together with social and cognitive psychology to develop design methods that support the design phases of behavioural design. As such, the main objectives in this research project is to:
· Describe behavioural design as a methodology
· Develop behavioural design methods
· Assess the developed methods and its generated outputs
The project is conducted in close collaboration with multiple health-tech/healthcare companies.
References
[1] - Tromp, N., Hekkert, P., & Verbeek, P.-P. (2011). Design for Socially Responsible Behavior: A Classification of Influence Based on Intended User Experience. Design Issues, 27(3), 3–19.
[2] - Webpage 1: www.diabetes.dk/presse/diabetes-i-tal/diabetes-i-danmark.aspx
[3] - Osterberg, L., & Blaschke, T. (2005). Adhenrece to Medication. New England Journal of Medicine 2005; 353: 487-97.
[4] - Lilley, D. (2009). Design for sustainable behaviour: strategies and perceptions. Design Studies, 30(6), 704–720.
[5] - Cash, P. J., Hartlev, C. G., & Durazo, C. B. (2017). Behavioural design: A process for integrating behaviour change and design. Design Studies, 48, 96-128.