The power and potential of Behavioural Design: practice, methodology, and ethics

Behavioural designers adopt practices from both design and behavioural science. Yet methodological discussions are fragmented across these fields. In response, this paper – for the first time – examines and draws together research on decision-making and methodologies applied to behavioural design via a systematic review. We identify three major themes challenging current understanding of behavioural design: Complex behavioural design space, Systemic behavioural design, and Behavioural design empathy and ethics. These themes give rise to a fundamental reconceptualization of the behavioural design process captured in our ‘Behavioural Design IM-PACT process model’. This model integrates a fuzzy front and back end around a co-evolutionary development process. Through this, we explain how design and behavioural science practices can be synthesised to deal with wicked behavioural problems in a complex context where a long intervention afterlife is inevitable. This highlights the way towards more integrative behavioural design with major implications for researchers and practitioners across fields.