My Fall semester thesis work on Cognitive Design culminated in a presentation for a final review with my advisors. This slideshow encompasses my primary and secondary research on this topic, as well as my Cognitive Design probes. Finally, I propose a plan for my Spring semester thesis work.

1. COGNITIVE DESIGN
Allison Leach
Thesis Research and Development: Final Review

2. Introduction

3. COGNITIVE BIASES
Awe Herd Instinct Hawthorne Effect Reactance
Instills a sense of When people adopt the The tendency to act differently The urge to do the
timelessness; behaviors and opinions of when someone knows they are opposite of what
promotes helpfulness; the majority being observed someone wants you to
encourages do out of a need to resist
experiential purchases a perceived attempt to
constrain your freedom
of choice

4. What is Cognitive Design?
a modern design movement which seeks to put the latest
findings of cognitive science to work and translate them
into design experiences that offer personal
transformation by guiding behavior

5. COGNITIVE INFLUENCE
Environment Free Will
Subconscious

6. REALMS OF BEHAVIOR
Mental
Health
Environmental
Health
Physical
Health

7. A HYBRID OF FIELDS
Persuasive
Game Theory Design
IXD
Life Human
Cognitive Science Factors
Coaching

8. DESIGN EXAMPLES
Stickk: a service for
publicly setting goals
OPower: smiley faces
on electrical bill
GreenGoose:
clip-on behavior
monitoring sensors

9. Thesis Statement
Leveraging our modern knowledge of cognitive biases,
how might designers create artifacts that motivate
people toward positive behaviors to improve their overall
well-being?

10. THESIS METHOD : Fall
Secondary research: examples,
studies and literature
Primary research: online
survey and experiments
Expert interviews and
written synthesis
Prototypes: behavior design game
and draft of Cognitive Design
Guide

11. Background
Research

12. READING LIST Allison Leach
Mental activities: Psychological Irrational
Dangers of rules, a goal, and a nudges in a game reasoning is
extrinsic rewards way of obtaining have a real impact everywhere, such
feedback in guiding behavior as the power of
social norms

13. KEY ELEMENTS OF MOTIVATION
Allison Leach
Behavior Flow 3 Drives
Motivation Biological Drive
Motivation
Symbolic Skill Autonomy
Ability Rewards & Punishments
Rules Mastery
Trigger Intrinsic Rewards
Goal Purpose
Feedback
BJ Fogg Mihaly
Daniel Pink
stanford social Csikszentmihalyi
author of drive
scientist author of flow

14. STEPHANIE HABIF, Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab Associate
Behavior Motivation
•Put behavior change in •A goal helps
a meaningful context people to focus
their purpose
•Understand for a
specific behavior: •Social guilt is only
what, when, where, powerful for an
how long, with whom acute or one-time
behavior
•Know the behavior’s
day-to-day context •Social support is
critical

15. Research

16. ONLINE SURVEY: Motivation and You
Survey Goals
Motivation Attitudes
Games Tricks
Rewards Nudges

17. SOCIAL EXPERIMENT Leach and You
Allison
ONLINE SURVEY: Motivation
CONTEXT METHOD RESULTS
What types of rewards do you value?

18. SOCIAL EXPERIMENT Leach and You
Allison
ONLINE SURVEY: Motivation
What is the main driving force in your life?

19. SOCIAL EXPERIMENT Leach and You
Allison
ONLINE SURVEY: Motivation
“Ask my family to keep
• “I'll say, ‘You can text that girl
once you get to page 37’" me on track.”
“I play music when I'm • “Rewarding myself with fun
cleaning and then it's like intervals... doing something
my brain thinks it's a that I like at the end.”
party” “I try and use apps to
promote the right
• “Cellphone alarm everyday at
5pm as a reminder to get back behavior like Fitocracy
to work” for exercise and
Goodreads for reading.”
How do you trick yourself into getting things done?

20. ONLINE SURVEY: Motivation and You
Survey Takeaways
• Intrinsic rewards trump • Gambling no;
all others gamification sometimes;
music yes
• Motivated but habits
hard to form • Experiential
expenditures > future
• Tricks help to get things investments
done
• People like reminders
• Social support keeps and are influenced by
people in line social guilt

21. HALLWAY POLL “What drives you?”

22. made work ::

23. Wealth
Other
8%
29% Purpose
21%
13%
Expression
29% Love
RESPONSES (25)
• Wealth: 2
• Power: 0
• Purpose: 5
• Love: 7
• Expression: 3
• Fear: 0
• Other: a car (1), sex (1),
compassion (2), passion (2), fun (1)

24. Experiment

25. SOCIAL EXPERIMENT Leach
Allison
Q: Does awe inspire timelessness and increase helpfulness?
CONTEXT METHOD RESULTS
Study: awe gives people Group A: Nature video Awe instilled, but
greater time-availability, negligible change in time
reduces irritability, Group B: Instructional video perception and mood
makes them act more
Group C: No video Uniform volunteerism in
generously
the clean-up event
Questionnaire followed by
volunteer opportunity Limited pool of
participants

26. Prototype

27. Doodle Wars

30. DOODLE WARS Motivating a Specific Behavior

31. DOODLE WARS Cognitive Design
GAME THEORY
Set Challenges
themed days keep the
game interesting, votes
encourage competition
Create Rules BEHAVIOR DESIGN
COGNITIVE DESIGN
rules guide players and Clear Goal
translate data into useful
one rule: doodle one doodle a
information
Specific Mental State day for 10 days
induce a fun mental state in players Feedback Hot Triggers
using youthful imagery and friendly players can view their
language online reminders, mobile
progress in the archive
submissions, drawing
Harness Cognitive Biases Rewards supplies, and prominent
game design fosters the Herd studio presence
surprise rewards, progress
Instinct, Hawthorne Effect, Social crown reward, and Social Support
Guilt, Mere Exposure Effect, completion rewards
Planning Fallacy, Priming social feelings make people
feel closer to the game
Personal Experience
Meaningful Context
each individual’s doodle collection
holds personal meaning creative challenge in a creative
workplace; a lighthearted
break from other projects

32. DOODLE WARS Studio Presence

33. TESTED ELEMENTS
DOODLE WARS Online Presence
Facebook Twitter Tumblr
• Community • Voice • Homepage for competition
• Sharing • “Liking” • Submitting
• “Liking” • Public praise/guilt • “Hearting” to vote
• Updates • Reposts from Tumblr • Instructions & Support
• Public praise/guilt • Doodle Archive
• Reposts from Tumblr

34. TESTED ELEMENTS
DOODLE WARS Online Presence
Facebook Twitter Tumblr

35. DOODLE WARS Tested Elements
Public Influence Triggers Extrinsic Rewards
• Social media cues • Reminders/Nudges • Crown and badge
• Posters highlighting the • Simple Instructions for progress
Doodle Master • Supplies • Jeweled rings as a
• Prominent board in • Posters surprise
studio entrance • Drawing supplies as
prize

36. DOODLE WARS Tested Elements
Public Influence Triggers Extrinsic Rewards

37. DOODLE WARS Results
DAY
day 10
10
day 9
9
day 8
8
day 7
7
day 6
6
day 5
5
day 4
4
day 3
3
day 2
2
day 1
1
= 94 doodles warred

39. TESTED ELEMENTS
DOODLE WARS Follow-up Survey
Agree or Disagree: I underestimated the
commitment of drawing a daily doodle.

40. TESTED ELEMENTS
DOODLE WARS Follow-up Survey
What held you back from participating?

41. TESTED ELEMENTS
DOODLE WARS Follow-up Survey
True or False:
Games motivate me more than normal tasks

42. DOODLING DRIVE
AND OBSTACLES
• “ I did like the day when
there was a theme, because
it helped me focus what I
was going to doodle.”
• “Going online and posting
them was an additional
process that I was not
• “My interest waned when I
willing to go through.” saw that some of the
‘doodles’ had way too
• “I was so busy with much effort put into them.”
schoolwork!”

43. EMOTION AND
MOTIVATION
• “It wasn't great seeing my
name advertised as
submitting zero doodles
with an unhappy face next
to it, but I guess that's what I
get for signing up.”
• “I did feel a little guilty about • “I love doodling, but don't do
not uploading doodles after it as often as I'd like. This
you sent me that prize email.” gave me that little push that
I needed!”
• It made me realize how
poorly extrinsic motivation • “Great visual encouragement-
works on me.” advertising, posters etc.”

44. DOODLE WARS Missing Elements
Complexity
Obstacles
Variety in
goals and More Rules
commitment Stake in the game
Novelty Support
Live Progress In-person
community
Daily winners
Personal Meaning

45. Future

46. THESIS METHOD : Spring
Refinement of design principles and
implementation of final cognitive design system
Organization of Cognitive Design Guide,
interview designers (potential readers)
Synthesis of findings and interviews,
development of thesis book
Completion of thesis exhibition
materials and final presentation

47. Guide Preview

48. COGNITIVE DESIGN GUIDE
✘ ✔
NYC LARGE-SIZED
vs WHOLE FOODS GROCERY
SODA BAN BAG DONATION
Reactance Hawthorne Effect
Perceived constraint on consumer’s Decision to donate credit when
freedom of purchasing power may upset providing one’s own grocery bag
soda drinkers and lead to an may be encouraged by the presence
overindulgence in other foods of other customers

49. COGNITIVE DESIGN GUIDE
Social Biases
GROUPTHINK - or - HERD INSTINCT
SCIENCE SAYS...
What: Phenomenon within groups of people in
A group of scientists at Newcastle University
demonstrated that merely hanging up posters of which the desire for harmony leads individuals to
staring human eyes is enough to significantly change
people’s behavior. After recording customer’s littering
adopt the behaviors and opinions of the majority.
behavior in their university’s cafeteria, the researchers
Design: Imagery of people acting a certain way may
hung posters with faces on them at eye-level
overlooking the diners. guide people towards a specific action.
During periods when
the posters of eyes
were present, twice
as many people ILLUSION OF OBSERVATION
cleaned up after
themselves. What: People who believe they are being watched
Source: http://www.scientificamerican.com/
article.cfm?id=how-the-illusion-of-being-observed-
are more likely to follow social norms.
can-make-you-better-person
Design: To encourage polite behavior, craft designs
that incorporate references to human eyes or that
feature cameras lenses.

50. COGNITIVE DESIGN GUIDE
Decision-Making Biases
PRIMACY EFFECT
SCIENCE SAYS... What: When quickly selecting among alternatives,
Researchers at Columbia University asked subjects to
rate a dozen famous paintings on a 12-point scale in preferences are unconsciously guided to options
terms of their liking. Next, the subjects were presented
with two of the paintings, chosen at random, and given that are presented first.
the somewhat weightier task of rerating two of the
paintings to choose one for inclusion in a museum’s
Design: Change the order of choices to nudge
permanent collection. Subjects who chose between
decision-makers in a specific direction.
paintings they initially rated far apart (i.e., an easy
decision) made their decision more difficult by rerating
these paintings much closer in overall liking.
“A choice that initially seemed easy because it was COMPLICATING DECISIONS
not of great consequence suddenly becomes more
difficult when imbued with greater consequence,” What: When an important decision seems too easy,
notes Professor Oded Netzer.
Source: http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/ideasatwork/
feature/7221834/Complicating+Choice#
consumers artificially reconstruct their preferences
to increases choice conflict.
Design: When possible, present options that are
more similar in appearance.

51. thank you
Allison Leach © 2012