The 3B

Framework
Designing for Behavior Change

Rooted in latest behavioral science

research, the 3B framework will
help you come up with actionable
recommendations to achieve
behavior change
Behavior change
is hard.
If it wasn’t, we’d all be uber-fit beacons of
productivity, trading our Netflix subscriptions
for a kindle and a stationary bike.

Alas, this is not the case (for most of us).

Good news?
There are dozens of companies trying to help us
improve our health, wealth and happiness.

Bad news?
They often fall short for predictable reasons. Humans
(us!) don’t always act in our best interest.

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The 3B Framework
That’s where the 3B framework comes in. The 3B framework is a scientific
approach to behavior change. It distills the complex human psychology into a
simple framework that designers, marketers and managers can use to build
better products.

There are three key elements to behavior change:

BEHAVIOR BARRIERS BENEFITS

By rigorously studying the environment of decision making, identifying these core

elements and designing your product around them, you can achieve real behavior
change.

The 3B framework distills Irrational Labs’ decade of experience applying the

principles of behavioral economics to drive product success.

It incorporates the most important principles from psychology into something

you can use on a daily basis to drive design and strategy decisions.

The 3B framework has been taught to hundreds of product managers at dozens of

companies spanning all sizes and industries, like Google, the World Bank and
Aetna.

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Questions you’ll be able to answer after applying
the 3B framework
How can I increase uptake of a new feature or program?

Why are people dropping off midway through the sign up flow?

How can I increase the chances that someone will engage with my product
or service?

People say they want this thing, but then they don’t use it. How can I change
that?

“ For product managers, designers and researchers,

behavioral science is a shortcut to building successful
solutions. It unlocks the psychology behind why our
customers act (or don’t act) and gives us the roadmap
on what to build and test.

- Kristen Berman, Co-Founder of Irrational Labs

Behavioral Design Course

If you want to dig deeper, check out our self-paced, online Behavioral Design
course. We’ve curated the most impactful insights from the field of behavioral
science and will guide you through making them actionable.

Learn More: hthttps://behavioraleconomicsbootcamp.com/

tps:/ behavioraleconomicsbootcamp.com/online/?utm_source=3bs+whitepaper&utm_medium=white+paper&utm_campaign=3bs+whitepaper

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 Behaviour Barriers Benefits

STEP 1:
Identify ONE Key Behavior
The first step to changing behavior may sound simple but requires
thoughtfulness, thoroughness and specificity. In this step, you need to define the
exact behavior you want someone to do and when in the flow they should do it.

For best results, you’ll want to get uncomfortably specific—if

you’re not a little uncomfortable defining your key behavior,
you’re doing it wrong! See examples below.

Questions to Ask during this Step

What one action do you want your users to take?

Is this the single most important behavior for them to do to meet business
goals?

How often do you want the user to do this behavior? (Some behaviors only need
to happen once, but some require habitual engagement.)

Examples of Key Behaviors

Open up a savings account during first in-person visit to the credit union.

Answer our health questionnaire within 30 days of starting a new job.

Eat salad for lunch every weekday.

Complete 30 minutes of cardio every Tuesday and Thursday morning.

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 As managers, we’re really good at
aligning our work to outcomes. You’re The most important
probably already tracking conversion, active step to behavior
use and retention numbers! change is tracking
We are asking you to go a step further. Go the behavior you
deeper. actually want to
What action does someone have to do in change!
order to drive your outcomes? It’s time to start
rigorously tracking that behavior.

Common Mistakes to Avoid during this Step

Not being specific enough.

“Eating healthy” is not going to cut it. Aim for the more clear-cut, “Eat one apple
every weekday morning.” Tip: Add timing. When should someone do this
behavior?

Mistaking an outcome for a behavior.

An outcome is “losing 10 pounds” or “reducing acquisition cost below $16.”
What is the behavior that will help produce the outcome?

Designating “Log-in” and “Sign-up” as behaviors to design for.

These aren’t behaviors you should be optimizing for; instead, think about what
you want users to do after they’ve logged in or signed up.

Not aligning with all stakeholders on an agreed-upon behavior.

Often, we find that people within the same organization don’t align on the same
behavior, at least initially. Make sure everyone is on the same page to save time
and headaches down the line.

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 Frequently Asked Questions

What if I don’t know the key behavior?

A key behavior is the most important part of behavior change. So it makes sense
if you’re not 100% confident on Day One what that behavior is! And, getting it
wrong has consequences. If you design a system with the wrong Key Behavior,
you won’t actually drive your outcomes.

Imagine you wanted to help your customers/users lose weight and you
identified a key behavior to walk for 10 minutes a day. While a 10 minute stroll
may have some health benefits, it won’t take off the pounds.

If you’re not sure what the behavior is, we suggest you prioritize a few
hypotheses that are informed by
1) data about how people behave today
2) academic literature about the domain and
3) a behavior map that outlines the steps you think your customers are
taking.

Now that you have your hypotheses prioritized, start testing!

See if your key behavior drives the desired outcomes.

The Key Behavior I’m designing for is:

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 Behaviour Barriers Benefits

STEP 2:
Reduce Barriers
Barriers are steps a user has to take and the decisions the user has to make in
order to achieve the key behavior. The thinking process of deciding where to go
out for dinner is a psychological barrier. Walking or driving to a restaurant is a
logistical barrier but involves a decision as well.

To create the path of least resistance for any key behavior for your user or
consumer, you’ll want to remove or simplify as many decisions as possible. The
path of least resistance in your product should ultimately be the path leading to
your desired key behavior.

TAKEAWAY:
Barriers are points of friction! Any friction will slow us down.

Humans are often guilty of taking the path of least resistance—whichever action
is easiest is the action we’re most likely to take. To design for behavior change,
barriers should be reduced or removed entirely.

While there are countless barriers in the form of cognitive biases,

we’ve listed some common themes here along with questions to
ask in order to get at your true list of barriers.

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Common types of Barriers & the Questions to ask for each

Attention Bias
People have limited attention spans. Life is busy and it’s easy to miss
important details. Ask these questions to see if attention bias is a problem for
your key behavior.
Do people remember it? (Availability bias)
Do people see it? (Saliency bias)
Do people want to see it? (Information avoidance)

Example: You’re trying to get employees to fill out their time reports at the end of
the work week. It’s Friday and all people want to do is head off to Happy Hour. You
have an Attention Bias barrier.

Cognitive Overload
We’re wired to limit our cognitive effort. When given higher levels of decision
difficulty or faced with a more complex set of choices, we can procrastinate or
opt out of taking action altogether, even though a rational human should
enjoy more choice. Is cognitive overload a problem for your key behavior? Ask
these questions to find out:
Is the best option clear? (Choice Overload)
Do people lack time/energy? (Scarcity, Depletion)
Do people lack the confidence to make the decision now?
(Procrastination, Decision Paralysis)

Example: You’re helping people refinance their home to save money. They have to
navigate which offer is optimal. If there are a lot of options to choose from, people
will likely act like deer in headlights and freeze (i.e., put off the decision until later!)

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Status Quo
We have a natural bias toward the present state of affairs and not changing
anything. We often view a change from the status quo as a loss. Is status quo
bias a problem for your key behavior? Ask these questions to find out:
Do people realize the opportunity cost of staying in the status quo? E.g.
what are you missing out on by not changing things up? (Opportunity
Cost Neglect)
Are there potential losses from moving away from the status quo? (Loss
Aversion, Regret Aversion, Sunk Costs)
Is it easy for people to switch? (Cognitive Overload, Decision Paralysis)

Example: You’re designing a way for people to re-sell their old clothing. People don’t
know the value of that 1 year old dress in their closet. The status quo behavior is to
keep it in their closet and not do anything.

Mental Models
Our preconceptions for how something works (our understanding of the
surrounding world) can bias our actions and social behaviors. Mental models
are often based on incomplete facts, visible norms, past experiences, and even
intuitive perceptions. These mental models can help shape actions and
behavior. They influence what people pay attention to in complicated
situations and define how people approach and solve problems. Are mental
models a problem for your key behavior? Ask these questions to find out:
What are people’s pre-existing attitudes and beliefs?
Do these pre-existing attitudes and beliefs align with the key behavior?
Are there assumptions different from what’s being presented?

Example: You work at a company offering online therapy to people who have daily
anxiety. Counseling/therapy may have a negative stigma around it preventing
people from signing up.

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 Common Mistakes to Avoid

Forgetting that a decision point is actually a barrier

Every time a user has to make a decision, regardless of how trivial, it adds
friction that could decrease the likelihood of completing your key behavior.
Every click, every field, every signature, every step and every call is a barrier.
That may not be a bad thing (see below), but all decision points should be
documented nonetheless.

Dismissing all friction as bad

In some cases, friction serves an important purpose, whether it’s changing a
mental model or reducing perceived friction. Read up on other cases where
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friction mics-1/its-not-alwaysnot
-about-making-thbe
ings-easier-whaen-to-mbad
ake-your-sign-up-flthing.
ow-harder-d7beced80 ca

Some barriers to completing the key behavior that my users

might face are:

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Now that you have identified the barriers, it’s time to prioritize
them. Take your top barriers and brainstorm how you could:

REMOVE them entirely -- OR -- SIMPLIFY the Decision

We once removed one open text If removing choices to get rid of

field from a sign-up form and barriers isn’t an option or a little
increased page over page choice is helpful (many times it is!),
conversion by 40%! The field asked then consider helping your users
people a question about their with the decision. Here are ways to
business. The question appeared simplify:
simple, but it required customers
Recommend an option. If you
to think a little. Because it wasn’t
think you know the best
critical to the onboarding
option for your audience, use
experience, the team was able to
a ‘Recommended by ____.’
remove it.
Provide information on what
Any small step is considered a choice other people make
barrier. If you can’t remove a step (like a “Most Popular” tag).
because of regulatory
Add (brief) helpful
requirements or because the
information that describes
information provided improves the
the option in an easily
accuracy of a recommendation
relatable way, like a “Best if
algorithm or similar, consider using
you come 3+ times/week” tag
a default.
on a fitness class package.

Reduce the number of

options. Instead of 5 options,
can you reduce the choice set
to 3?

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 Behaviour Barriers Benefits

STEP 3:
Amplify Benefits
Where barriers add friction, benefits add the motivation to completing a key
behavior.

But all benefits are not created equal. Given two similar rewards, people tend to
prefer the immediate one and discount the value of the later reward. While we
may intend to do something for our future self, in the moment we generally pick
what’s immediately most enjoyable.

Just think about what’s in your Netflix queue right now.

For the future, you’ve probably picked out documentaries and award-winning
artistic films. But what happens when you get home at the end of the day, you’re
tired, and you flip on the TV to relax? You’re much more likely to end up with a
light-hearted and lowbrow Zoolander when choosing for right now.

This, in a nutshell, is why weight loss is so hard—we don’t start shedding the
pounds the day we start dieting, it takes time. There is no immediate benefit to
dieting. If you’ve ever bought french fries instead of a salad you likely can
appreciate this.

So what does this mean for you, as you’re trying to change

behaviors?
You need to make any existing benefits of your product salient and immediate or
create new ones, and make sure they outweigh the costs/barriers. If you are
trying to drive longer-term benefits like weight loss or financial gain, you should
focus on creating a perceived immediate benefit from a non-immediate one.
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What are we talking about?
Good dental hygiene is a long-term benefit, but is that actually why we brush our
teeth? Of course not. The reason we use toothpaste is to have fresh-smelling
breath now. Brushing our teeth gives us an immediate and tangible reward, the
main driver of consistent toothbrushing, while also contributing to the
long-term goal of dental hygiene.

Sometimes, we need to reframe our product and give people the right
thing to do for the wrong reasons. Barriers are points of friction! Any
friction will slow us down.

Keep in mind
“Benefits” don’t always have to be literal, like money or goods. There are also
psychological principles (like following norms, reputation, and altruism) that can
serve as motivating benefits. In fact, psychological benefits are often the most
powerful!

We want to be
EMOTIONAL (HEDONIC)
here if possible

I want this I want this

tomorrow today!

FUTURE NOW

I need this I need this

tomorrow today!

This is an
uphill battle FUNCTIONAL

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Examples

We have a new ergonomic keyboard that improves posture. While people know
better posture is good for them, the immediate benefit we provide is faster
typing.

We are helping people pay off their car loan by splitting payments weekly.
When people switch their payment frequency, we give them credit for free gas.

We are a fitness app. We give people visible status immediately after they
complete their first activity.

We are a non profit trying to drive donations. We don’t focus on the statistics of
our cause, instead we highlight the powerful and emotional story of one
recipient.

Questions to Ask Yourself

What would impact a user’s life right now?

Does the benefit appeal to someone’s emotion?

Is there a sense of urgency to act now?

Do people receive a concrete benefit?

Does the behavior of others signal what is socially acceptable?

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 Common Mistakes to Avoid

Ignoring psychological benefits.

As we mentioned above, these benefits, like fitting in (following social norms),
feeling good about yourself (altruism) and feeling good about the way others
perceive you (reputation) are often stronger than more tangible benefits.

Overdoing it.
People will respond to deadlines or error messages. But over time they will
catch on and you’ll lose trust and customers. We recommend only using these
tactics if the feature/behavior you’re trying to encourage is mission critical to
your product.

List out your existing benefits. How can you make them more
immediate or concrete?

Brianstorm new immediate benefits that you could create. What

would motivate someone to take action now?

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 3Bs

BEHAVIOR BARRIERS BENEFITS

The first B stands for The second B stands for The third B stands for
Behavior (duh!). Barriers. Benefits.
We can’t solve any Barriers add or decrease Benefits add or decrease
problems without friction to completing a motivation to completing
identifying the behavior behavior. TLDR: make it the behavior. TLDR: make
that needs to be changed. easy for me to do! me want to do it!

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Time to start building new behaviors!
You’re well on your way to impacting behavior change for good! With an
understanding of these principles, you can create more effective solutions to
improve uptake of your key behavior.

We believe Product Managers have a responsibility whenever designing

environments that people are making decisions in. You are choice
architects—with the power to influence people’s choices whether you know it or
not. That’s why you need to educate yourself on the human psyche.

This is just a peek into the world of behavioral design.

If you’re looking to expand your impact, check out our online Behavioral Design
course, where you’ll learn:

How your customers make decisions.

How to design small tweaks to subtly encourage them to adjust their behaviors.

The behavioral diagnosis, a critical tool to assess human behavior.

Customer research and how a behavioral scientist does it.

The psychological biases affecting you and your customers on a daily basis

Learn more about the Bootcamp at hthttps://behavioraleconomicsbootcamp.com/

tps:/ behavioraleconomicsbootcamp.com/online/?utm_source=3bs+whitepaper&utm_medium=white+paper&utm_campaign=3bs+whitepaper

About Irrational Labs

Irrational
ht ps:/ behavioraleconomicsbo tcamp.com/online/?utm_source=3bs+whitepaper&utm_medium=wLabs
hite+paper&utm_campaign=3bs+whitepaper is a behavioral product design consultancy. We have worked with
dozens of top companies to incorporate behavioral design into their workflow.
We have run over 50 experiments to identify effective solutions that drive
business and customer metrics. We have conducted hundreds of trainings inside
big and small companies.

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