As part of his keynote presentation at the 3rd annual mLearnCon, Mobile Learning Conference and Expo, BJ Fogg, Director of Stanford’s Behavior Design Lab shared some of his recent work around “tiny habits” or how to help people effectively build new behaviors by well-targeted baby steps that are celebrated along the way. His creative approach was the perfect backdrop for the conference in which various tool and system developers and courseware providers come together to discuss how mobile learning can be effectively implemented and deployed.
In his most recent research, Fogg has created a site where people are encouraged to commit to a week of mini behavior changes to help him gather data to analyze where and how people are more effective in adopting new behaviors. Since December 2011, over 4100 people have signed up to be part of his 3 tiny habits program to attempt to modify their behaviors in some way.
His work is based on the principles outlined in his Behavior Grid which identifies the 15 ways in which behavior can change. In advancing captology, the science of using machines to persuade and influence human behavior, he has developed a series of unique persuasion strategies for each type of behavior.
Fogg indicates those who are most successful define the desired behavior clearly. This needs to be crisp and as specific as possible. This needs to follow a clear “anchor” behavior – something that someone already regularly does such as having there morning coffee. A baby step change in behavior (such as wiping the counter after your morning coffee) followed by a celebration of one’s success can lead to the changed behavior in as little as five days.
Fogg’s study reinforces the potential for improving product usage of carefully crafted strategies that when tied to mobile and web can help increase the sale as well as the usage of products.
Triggering the right sequence of baby steps to get a person to use a product and ultimately increase it comes from a deep understanding of your customers behaviors. Mobile provides the optimal vehicle for influencing behavior. Recent studies suggest that the average US mobile user checks their phone over 150 times per day.
That’s a lot of opportunities to influence behavior. As Fogg suggests, plant a tiny habit in the right spot and it well grow without further coxing.