Designing content for behavioural change: a framework

Photo of a neon ‘change’ sign.

I’m sharing my tried-and-tested framework on how to design products and services for behavioural change. It’s applicable to all types of behavioural change, though my experience is connected to real-world problems—for example things relating to health, education, bullying and hate speech.

I always look at this framework alongside Figma, and I use it to ground myself. It’s not prescriptive enough to tell you how to design — that’s where research and data come in. But it will help you identify specific moments of a journey to ideate and push work further.

Step 1: Get people’s attention

There are 5 things I like to follow:

1. Help people recognise themselves in the message. Address people’s emotions and identities.
2. Address things competing for their attention — like self-doubt, competing demands, social pressure.
3. Use familiar language—the words that people use. This is what resonates, otherwise you’re creating an unnecessary barrier.
4. Be a trustworthy source. Attribute a voice or an actor where you can, so that the person has a reason to focus on what you’re trying to say.
5. Be captivating. This makes the message harder to ignore.

Step 2: Tell people what they have to do

This is how this one breaks down:

1. Be specific — help people picture themselves carrying out the action. Make this as concrete as you can.
2. Give people all the info they need to move forward. If there are dependencies or complications, don’t hide behind them.
3. Create and signpost next steps. Leave no room for ambiguity.
4. Convey appropriate urgency and timelines. Without a deadline, people are unlikely to move forward.
5. Be clear who takes responsibility. If there’s something that the company or a third-party actor needs to do, acknowledge it.

Step 3: Motivate them to act

Finally, you want people to actually make the change. Here are some things that I’ve found to work:

1. Show people consequences of not doing the thing. This applies the necessary pressure.
2. Make following the instructions very compelling. Words of encouragement help here, but make sure to be tonally sensitive.
3. Help people feel empowered to act. Put the ball in their court.
4. Make the next steps sound fun, interesting or intriguing. It doesn’t have to be all three though.