The MAO Model: Research for Behavior Change.

The Mao Model
research for
behavior change
Sebastian Deterding (@dingstweets)
Interaction’12
February 3, 2012, Dublin
cb

http://j.mp/yesqNM

http://j.mp/yesqNM
Swelter more steel to accelerate
the establishment of socialism!

1
Persuasive
Design
3
The MAO Model
2
The Problem
4
The Method
5
Coda

3
The MAO Model
2
The Problem
4
The Method
5
Coda 1
Persuasive
Design

From Usability to Motivation

Persuasive Design
Design to change attitudes
and behaviors

Robert Fabricant
»Behavior is our
medium.«
interaction’09 (2009)

Why care?

Reason #1
Business has
changed.

utility
usability the great beyond
New differentiators

New markets
health
self-
improvement
eco/green

New business models & goals
Upload!
Comment!
Tag!
Digg!
Forward!
Invite!
Bookmark!Retweet!
Share!
Add friend!
Design!
Mark as Spam!
Like!
Answer! Vote!
Curate!
Subscribe!
Buy!

Reason #2
Our idea of the
human condition
has changed.

+
Then: The Rational Actor

(It shaped our work as well)

Now: !e Social Animal

Rational Actor Social Animal
Individualist, detachedSocial, embodied
Material self-interest
Many (also intrinsic, social)
motivations
Cool calculating ratio
Biases, emotions, habits,
social & material
environment
Conscious information-
processing
Unconscious processes

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/grumbler/5631948705/sizes/o/in/photostream/
A g"d workin# model

!e Rider
Conscious, deliberate reasoning
Needs goals and plans to get somewhere
Quickly tired from heavy steering
Often not alert
http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/grumbler/5631948705/sizes/o/in/photostream/

!e Elephant
Emotions, habits, automatic processes
Has a mind of its own (really in charge)
Lives in the here and now
Training takes time
http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/grumbler/5631948705/sizes/o/in/photostream/

!e Jungle
Social and material environment
Arouses the elephant (mice!)
Makes things harder/easier to reach
Can be cultivated by rider
Where the herd lives
http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/grumbler/5631948705/sizes/o/in/photostream/

Ignorin# the elephant and the r"mRational
Actor

1
Persuasive
Design
3
The MAO Model
4
The Method
5
Coda The Problem 2

We have t"l sets ...

… but no real conﬆru%ion plan.

what we warn all clients of:
»A solution in search
of a problem«

Not
»This might also persuade users.«
But
»What drives and stops Peter to
do X at point Y?«

!e Fog# Behavior Model?
motivation
ability
trigger
trigger threshold
http://behaviormodel.org/

!e Fog# Behavior Model?
motivation
ability
trigger
trigger threshold
http://behaviormodel.org/
„Pleasure/pain, hope/fear, acceptance/rejection“
is a private theory out of sync with motivation
research; ignores attitudes and affects

!e Fog# Behavior Model?
motivation
ability
trigger
trigger threshold
http://behaviormodel.org/
Ignores self-efficacy, learning,
understanding. Quote: „Most people
resist learning new things. That’s
just how we are as humans:
lazy“ (which is untrue)

!e Fog# Behavior Model?
motivation
ability
trigger
trigger threshold
http://behaviormodel.org/
Ignores intention, goal-
setting, mindfulness

In &ort: We‘re mi'in# a rider here!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aftab/3992830809Fogg

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/grumbler/5631948705/sizes/o/in/photostream/
A%ion is me'(, emergent, situated

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/automat/623260075

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/melissagray/4379697339

and we‘d still like to know:
What are the relevant
motivators, enablers,
triggers for Peter to do
X in situation Y?

1
Persuasive
Design
2
The Problem
4
The Method
5
Coda 3
The Mao Model

http://www.springerlink.com/content/m7128613815u7225/

Motivation
Pushing action
forward (or back)

Ability
Affording and
constraining action

opportunity
Finding the right/
critical moments
“Stopwatch” symbol is by The Noun Project from thenounproject.com collection.

Reader
beware http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/velouria/4997235332

Motivation
Pushing action
forward (or back)

http://j.mp/xcHfVe

http://j.mp/xcHfVe
Love manual labor!

BJ Fogg
»Put hot triggers in the
path of motivated people.«
the new rules of persuasion (2009)
http://www.slideshare.net/bjfogg/bj-fogg-the-new-rules-of-persuasion-brussels-2009

»I‘m not convinced.«
http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/prescottfoland/5259812928

Make people awareStep
#1

Help people understand
http://www.thefamilyinternational.org/en/work/africa/projects/education/143/photo/471/Step
#2

http://j.mp/xGk85S

Social Proof,
Liking
Authority
Social Proof
Facts

Make people careStep
#3

Appeal to motivational needs

Create need-satisfying experiences

physical
psycholo
gical
social
Hunger
Thirst
Sex
Relatedness
Power
Recognition
Autonomy
Competence
Belonging

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/prescottfoland/5259812928
That tricky beast, autonomy

Lynde Kintner, Smart Sex. http://www.ac4d.com/home/philosophy/student-work/smart-sex-the-man-shield/

http://misteringo.deviantart.com/art/Bunnies-Scream-Again-79745974
Acknowledge and defuse FUDs

Use (or remove) social norms
http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/matthileo/4482198229

Motivation, in summary
attitudes, emotions
motivations
fears
social norms
knowledge
Build awareness, form mental models
Connect to emotions & values
Appeal to & satisfy needs
Use or shift contexts
Acknowledge & defuse fears

Ability
Affording and
constraining
actions

http://j.mp/wdUCRx

http://j.mp/wdUCRx
Train strictly and be well-prepared
for the battle against invaders!

Support visioning
http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/ronsombilongallery/3240944872

Guide goal and implementation planning

Mindfulness
http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/johnworthington/3241165758Oh, there‘s
craving.
Interesting.

Willpower
“MUST - RESIST -
CRAVING !!!“

Willpower
http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/foshydog/3699371501
http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/pnjunction/2509578641

Marc Hassenzahl
»With an aesthetic of convenience,
you will never instill change.
What you need, rather, is an
aesthetic of friction.«
towards an aesthetic of friction (2011)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehWdLEXSoh8

Cultivate mindfulness and willpower
Kehr, F., Hassenzahl, M., Laschke, M., & Diefenbach, S. (2012). A transformational product to improve self-control
strength: the Chocolate Machine. Proc. of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems.

Strengthen self-efficacy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learned_helplessness
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-efﬁcacy

Model the behavior

Provide fast experiences of success

Defuse guilt & frustration

Build knowledge and skills

Make it easy (or hard ^_^)

Ensure necessary resources

Shape new habits
http://tinyhabits.com

Routines support habituation

Defaults support habituation

Train ready-to-hand alternative actions

Moshé Feldenkrais
»Free choice means having at
least one other way.«
the elusive obvious (1981)
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0908/09080401

Provide social support

Ability, in summary
self-efficacy
ability
habit
Model, afford successes, forgive failures
Train, improve usability & resources
Repetition until ready-to-hand/automatic
Providing social supportsocial support
mindfulness, willTrain the rider‘s strength
goal-setting
Support visioning, goals, planning

opportunity
Finding the right/
critical moments
“Stopwatch” symbol is by The Noun Project from thenounproject.com collection.

obey commands at any time!

καιρός

The Opportune Moment
Providing a catalyst when
people are motivated, able, and
have the opportunity to act.

Opportunities over time
micro
macro
biography
service lifecycle
routines
service episode
Breakdowns, periods
Steps (one-time/repeat)
Month, week, day, ...
User flow, interface

Biographic turning points

Service lifecycle

Routines: Workday
http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/mindcaster-ezzolicious/3050043143

Routines: Craving cycle

Service episode: Restaurant

Service episode: Interface

Always Be Closing

No time?

Defer

Make a future appointment

Allow completion in chunks

Don‘t disturb current goals

Opportunities in space

The Opportune Moment
Providing a catalyst when
people are motivated, able, and
have the opportunity to act.

What did I want?
http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/philandpam/1485578432

Joseph Heath and Joel Anderson
»After surveying the experimental findings,
one begins to wonder how people manage
to get on in their daily lives at all. ... People
are able to get on because they “offload” an
enormous amount of practical reasoning
onto their environment.«
procrastination and the extended will (2010)

Create wanted cues
http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/robandstephanielevy/4668030838

Created wanted cues

http://designinghappiness.wordpress.com/

Remove unwanted external cues
http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/a-culinary-photo-journal/3134396770

Remove unwanted external cues

Create Re-Minders
https://www.readyforzero.com/

Opportunity, in summary
space
cues
re-minders
time
Find rhythms & timings
Find spaces for action
Create wanted, remove unwanted
Give the rider a chance

1
Persuasive
Design
3
The MAO Model
2
The Problem
5
Coda The Method 4

First, a nagging problem
http://people.virginia.edu/~tdw/nisbett&wilson.pdf

Eric Schwitzgebel
»Nisbett and Wilson are not skeptics
about introspective report of conscious
experiences. They are skeptics about
introspective knowledge of the causes of
those experiences.«
the nisbett-wilson myth (2006)
http://schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com/2006/10/nisbett-wilson-myth.html

The limits of self-report
We can report recent experiences,
general beliefs, attitudes, values
Stick to actual, current/recent experiences
We fail at detailed memory, future action,
irrelevant things, unconscious processes
Ask for connected attitudes, values, needs,
but don‘t jump to conclusions

Deﬁne & ma) *ange goals
Be specific: »Become a better person«
doesn‘t work
Map out chain of behaviors & actors to
structure and/or focus research
If you replace an old behavior, you need to
study & address both old and newStep
#1

Behavior chain: Eating healthy
eat
healthy
food

Behavior chain: Eating healthy
eat
healthy
food
avoid
mindless
snacking

Behavior chain: Eating healthy
eat
healthy
food
avoid
mindless
snacking
cook
healthy
food

Behavior chain: Eating healthy
eat
healthy
food
avoid
mindless
snacking
cook
healthy
food
shop
healthy
food

Behavior chain: Eating healthy
eat
healthy
food
avoid
mindless
snacking
cook
healthy
food
shop
healthy
food
plan healthy
meals

Behavior chain: Eating healthy
eat
healthy
food
avoid
mindless
snacking
cook
healthy
food
shop
healthy
food
plan healthy
meals
actor a
actor b

Recruit participants
People using your service/performing
your activity (or broaden to comparable
cases)
Look for people who just did it and ...
… failed/aborted (what kept them?)
… succeeded (what enabled them?)Step
#2

Gather data
http://j.mp/yCqngC
http://myexperience.sourceforge.net/Step
#3
http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2011/05/capturing-meaningful-and-signiﬁcant-user-experience-metrics.php
http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/the-three-greatest-survey-questions-ever/

Gather data
Stick to actual experiences with ...
Experience Sampling
True Intent/Voice of Customer
Shadowing/Contextual Inquiry
Interviews with participants that recently
engaged in the activity in questionStep
#3

Laddering
Why?
Why?
Why?
Why?
Why?
Use laddering
http://madpow.com/Insights/WhitePapers/Laddering--A-Research-Interview-Technique.aspx

Find the template
online at
http://j.mp/
maomodel

Analyse the dataStep
#4
Analyse, aggregate and identify key
issues, looking for ...
… aligning drivers and obstacles
… things mentioned repeatedly
… things that separate successful and
unsuccessful cases
… things that are interdependent or
»root causes«

Ideate
How might we address ...
Put
key obstacle/
opportunity
here
Put
pattern/card/lens
here
(, using )
to achieve ?Put desired change hereStep
#5

Ideate
How might we address ...
Put
key obstacle/
opportunity
here
Put
pattern/card/lens
here
(, using )
to achieve ?Put desired change here Step
#5

Make a detail analysisStep
#6
write invite
choose
whom to
invite
see
invite
open
invite
accept
invite
explore
service
send
invite
sign
up

Make a detail analysisStep
#6
choose
whom to
invite
Opportunity
Motivation
Ability

Step
#6 Make a detail analysis
Take your customer journey/behavior
chain/screen flow/…, ask at each step:
What is the relevant action?
Is this the right moment? Are there
unmet preconditions, better moments?
What is de/motivating, en/disabling,
cueing?
Ideate for each step if necessary

Map a journey over timeStep
#7

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/grumbler/5631948705/sizes/o/in/photostream/

!e Path
Designing change over time,
step by step
Maintenance
http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/grumbler/5631948705/sizes/o/in/photostream/

Phillippa Lally et al.
»It takes an average 66 days
to form a new habit.«
how are habits formed (2009)
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0908/09080401

1
Persuasive
Design
3
The MAO Model
2
The Problem
4
The Method 5
Coda

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/grumbler/5631948705/sizes/o/in/photostream/
A!ion is me"#, emergent, situatedTakeaway
#1

Key drivers
Behavior
Key obstacles
AbilityAbilityAbility
Self-e!cacyMindfulness/gritKnowlegde/skill/usabilityHabitsResourcesSocial support
MotivationMotivationMotivation
AwarenessAttitudes/emotionsGoalsMotivationsFearsSocial norms
Motivation Ability Opportunity Analysis
Designed by Sebastian Deterding/coding conduct
Licensed under cb p. 1
Opportune MomentsOpportune MomentsOpportune MomentsOpportune Moments
Biography
Service lifecycle
Routines
Service episode
DriversDrivers
Obstacles Obstacles
$ange ﬆarts with underﬆandin& the problemTakeaway
#2

Paul Watzlawick et al.
»These are two types of change: one that
occurs within a given system which itself
remains unchanged, and one whose
occurrence changes the system itself. ...
Second-order change is thus change of
change.«
change (1974: 10-11)

Dou you build crutches …question
#2

… if you could build ladders?

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/seemoredomore/4727291896

Heinz von Foerster
»The ethical imperative:
Act always so as to increase
the number of choices.«
on constructing a reality (1973)
http://books.google.com/books?id=mAkIVn9d-9kC&lpg=PA211&ots=gpV1PJFU2k&lr&pg=PA214#v=onepage&q&f=false

Do you seek the right change?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-
business/small-painless-behaviour-changequestion
#2

When discipline is reinforced,
revolution cannot fail!

»(A) person having a nightmare can do many
things in his dream – run, hide, fight, scream,
jump off a cliff, etc. – but no change from any
one of these behaviours to another would
ever terminate that nightmare. ... The only
way out of a dream involves a change from
dreaming to waking.«
change (1974: 10-11)
Paul Watzlawick et al.

[email protected] @dingstweets codingconduct.cc Thank You.

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don‘t play games with me!
Promises and Pitfalls of Gameful Design

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persuasive design
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meaningful play
Getting »Gamification« Right

Ariely, D. (2010). Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions. New
York: Harper Perennial. j.mp/yy6kX9
Benkler, Y. (2011). The Penguin and the Leviathan: How Cooperation Trumps Over Self-
Interest. London: Penguin. j.mp/zzGQH7
Brooks, D. (2012). The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and
Achievement. New York: Random House. j.mp/zpcc8O
Christakis, N.A. & Fowler, J.H. (2009). Connected: The Suprising Power of Our Social
Networks and How They Change Our Lives. New York: Litle, Brown and Company. j.mp/
wcgnW2
Damasio, A. (2005). Descarte‘s Error. Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain. London:
Penguin. j.mp/y9GTQ1
Fogg, B.J. (2009). A behavior model for persuasive design. Proceedings of the 4th International
Conference on Persuasive Technology. j.mp/yRQB7R
Grist, M. (2010). STEER: Mastering Our Behaviour Through Instinct, Environment and Reason.
London: The RSA. j.mp/wjKcV1
Heath, C. & Heath, D. (2010). Switch: How to Change When Change is Hard. New York:
Broadway Books. j.mp/zPVnde
Some References

More References
Kahnemann, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux. j.mp/
ymB3rc
Michie, S., van Starlen, M.M. & West, R. (2011). The behaviour change wheel: A new method
for characterising and designing behaviour change interventions. Implementation Science
6,42. j.mp/zkHz5p
Ölander, F. & Thogersen, J. (1995). Understanding of consumer behaviour as a prerequisite
for environmental protection. Journal of Consumer Policy 18,4, 345-385.
Pink, D. (2009). Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. London: Penguin.
j.mp/AimHXS
Rowson, J. (2011). Transforming Behaviour Change: Beyond Nudge and Neuromania.
London: The RSA. j.mp/x8Sjl1
Thaler, R.H. & Sunstein, C. (2008). Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and
Happiness. London: Penguin. j.mp/ytZGZl
Watzlawick, P., Weakland, J. & Fish, M.D. (1974). Change. Principles of Problem Formation
and Problem Resolution. W.W. Norton: New York. j.mp/zQMCIP

Even More References
The Chocolate Machine: Kehr, F., Hassenzahl, M., Laschke, M., & Diefenbach, S. (2012). A
transformational product to improve self-control strength: the Chocolate Machine. Proc. of the
SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems.
Motivation and Emotion: Reeve, J. (2009). Understanding Motivation and Emotion, 5th. Ed.
Hoboken; John Wiley. j.mp/xa11sp
Implementation Intentions: Gollwitzer,P. M. (1999). Implementation Intentions: Strong Effects
of Simple Plans. American Psychologist 54,7. j.mp/ysqlDb
Willpower is depleted and trainable: Baumeister, R.; J. Tierny (2011). Willpower: Rediscovering
the Greatest Human Strength. New York: Penguin. j.mp/yTXL97.
Mindfulness and smoking cessation: Brewer, J.A. et. al. (2011). Mindfulness training for
smoking cessation: results from a randomized controlled trial. Drug and Alcohol Dependence
119,1-2. http://j.mp/y81CRX
Everyday willpower: Hofmann, W., Baumeister, R. F., Förster, G. & Vohs, K. D. (2012). Everyday
temptations: An experience sampling study of desire, conflict, and self-control. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, online first. j.mp/wRA74g

Most images are cc-licensed images taken from flickr. In those cases, attribution and link to
the original photo are given on the respective slide.
All Mao posters are from the excellent maopost.com.
»Daddy, drink two glasses of water first« image of Android app is © Rajat Paharia and used
with kind permission.
»Increasing motivation, removing friction« illustration is taken from Stephen Anderson‘s
presentation The Art and Science of Seductive Interactions and used with kind permission.
Image credits

Find the template
online at
http://j.mp/
maomodel

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