How designers can influence behavior
Robert Fabricant wrote about the role of the designer in behavioural change and describes three new design strategies: persuasion design, catalyst design and performance design.
“Instead of aspiring to influence user behavior from a distance, we increasingly want the products we design to have more immediate impact through direct social engagement. Institutions that drive the global social innovation agenda, such as the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, have shown an interest in this new approach, but many designers hesitate to pursue it. Committing to direct behavior design would mean stepping outside the traditional frame of user-centered design (UCD), which provides the basis of most professional design today.”
UPDATE:
– Reflection by Dan Lockton on the Robert Fabricant story
– Reaction by Robert Fabricant
