Psychology To Influence User Behavior
Coaxing people to perform a particular action, like signing up or buying a product, is a challenge, especially when you want that action to be performed repeatedly. As UX designers, we try to create the best conditions for users to complete their tasks, and yet even the most usable interface is sometimes not enough to engage users. Why is that? To understand the reasons behind what drives users to certain behaviors, we need to look at the psychology that underlies the process of initiating and performing a behavior. Only when we understand the broader mechanisms that guide actions will we be able to create usable interfaces and conduct user-specific research.
In psychology, we distinguish between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. This means that someone can be driven to do something either by external factors, like the prospect of receiving a reward, such as money, or by internal factors, like the enjoyment derived from doing an activity. Research has shown that this approach works well for people who do not enjoy the behavior, for example, people who don’t enjoy exercising. However, for people who do enjoy the behavior but would like to improve on it or are not doing it for another reason, giving a reward could have a negative effect. Rewarding someone for an activity they already inherently enjoy might lead to a short-term increase in this behavior, but as soon as the reward is taken away, the activity is often pursued less than before the reward was given. This phenomenon is called the over-justification effect, because the existing reason for a person to do something, such as enjoyment of exercise, is suddenly joined by another reason, the external reward.
Unfortunately, motivation is not always enough to initiate a behavior. A useful way at looking at what enables behavior is BJ Fogg's behavior model. The model states that, for a specific behavior to occur, three things have to be present at the same time: motivation, ability and triggers. The model assumes that a behavior is most likely to happen when a person feels sufficiently motivated, is able to perform the behavior and is reminded to perform it by a trigger. A trigger can take various forms, such as a notification that reminds the person or a visual cue. The model stipulates that triggers work effectively only if the person's levels of motivation and ability are high enough.
While this sounds like a compelling model for a website or app, simply ensuring that the three components are present might not be enough to create a persuasive interface that encourages behavior change. Users can be motivated in several ways, and what motivates one group could have a detrimental effect on another group. Similarly, ability level likely varies between users, and some might prefer certain triggers to others. To design a successful product, we will need to tailor the three components of the model to our users and thoroughly understand our target audience.