50 states, 50 COVID-19 campaigns

At the conclusion of our behavioral design workshop in December, participants penned how, now, they thought about behavioral design. Some participants sketched anecdotes from behavioral science examples — such as a sketch of a desire path — others drew a brain or decision action maps. The exercise promoted me to ask myself same question — how would I illustrate behavioral design? At the moment, the other facilitators and I played around with a type of behavioral design cartoon-meets-mascot concept, which resembled a brain and was inspired by a prototyping exercise. Months later, reading Engaged by Dr. Amy Bucher, I was reminded of this exercise — how would I illustrate behavioral design? Each chapter of Dr. Bucher’s book emphasizes tactics and approaches of a behavioral designer. As I was reading, I found myself sketching various dimensions of the multifaceted behavioral designer alongside my notes and takeaways from each chapter.

Listeners gain understanding of deeper meaning, uncovering insights about individual values and motivations behind behaviors.

Cartographers shape how we understand our journey, informing both our route and destination.

Curators facilitate good decision-making through design.

Detectives uncover and [behaviorally] diagnose what’s happening, and how.

Cheerleaders motivate growth. Cheerleaders know that individuals understand themselves through feedback and focus feedback on behaviors that are critical to outcomes.

Matchmakers connect individuals with support, to increase motivation for sticking with a desired behavior.

Connectors forge paths, oftentimes creating a novel and easier way for us to reach to our desired end goal.

Ecosystems thinkers consider broad [and potential] effects of the product.

Mirrors reflect something essential about the individual back to them, honoring something unique about the individual.

Trustworthy designers give individuals control and only collect essential information. Trustworthy designers are honest and understand that trust is an ongoing conversation over the course of an interaction.

Wizards predict future behaviors based on how individuals acted in the past, rather than relying on individuals’ predictions of their own future behavior(s). A wizard designs for our future selves.

Training wheels, “allow people to take their first ride without fear of falling. Over time, riders gain confidence to pedal faster and the skill to balance without help… If all goes well, people will remove the training wheels. But they won’t stop r… — Training wheels, “allow people to take their first ride without fear of falling. Over time, riders gain confidence to pedal faster and the skill to balance without help… If all goes well, people will remove the training wheels. But they won’t stop riding.” (p.276)

Kudos to the team at Bigger Picture for providing me with a framework to think about sketching. And to Alex Fiorillo for introducing me to the technique.