USING INSIGHTS FROM BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE TO NUDGE FOR ...

WASHINGTON DC| MARCH 2018

USING INSIGHTS FROMBEHAVIORAL SCIENCE TO

NUDGE FOR PROGRAM AND POLICY SUCCESS

Samia Amin

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Meet the Presenters

AIR

Senior Lead, Design Thinking and Innovation

Virginia Hamilton

AIR

Director, Workforce Development and Human Capital Solutions

Samia Amin

A M E R I C A N I N S T I T U T E S F O R R E S E A R C H | A I R . O R G

START

WITH

PEOPLE:

HUMAN

CENTERED

DESIGN

IDEO

A M E R I C A N I N S T I T U T E S F O R R E S E A R C H | A I R . O R G 4

START WITH

WHAT WE KNOW

ABOUT PEOPLE:

BEHAVIORAL

INSIGHTS

DOL TRIAL TO INCREASE TAKE UP OF REA PROGRAM IN MICHIGAN

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Low-take up of REA despite proven success at increasing job placement and reducing UI claims duration

Source: Darling, Matthew, Christopher O’Leary, Irma Perez-Johnson, Jaclyn Lefkowitz, Ken Kline, Ben Damerow, Randall Eberts, Samia Amin, and Greg Chojnacki. “Simple Encouragement Emails Increased Take-Up of Reemployment Program.” Research Brief. Washington, DC: Mathematica Policy Research, May 2017.

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• I wondered what I had done

wrong…why was I being

called-in by the UI agency?

I was worried because the letter said that my benefits

would stop.

I had no idea what to expect…what would

happen at this meeting.

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“When I first stepped onto my community-college

campus, I was overwhelmed. Staring at the course

catalogue, I ran through the seemingly infinite

number of class combinations I could arrange

around my two part-time jobs. I struggled to

determine the sequence of classes that would

satisfy my major, graduation, and transfer

requirements in the most timely and cost-effective

manner.

Had I been the Spock of community-college

students—possessed with a preternatural ability to

process large amounts of information and act

dispassionately, unerringly, and with economic

precision—it would have been easy” - Leslie

What I know now, nearly a decade after

graduating from community college, is that

behavioral science could have helped

What I know now, nearly a decade after graduating from community college, is that behavioral science could have helped.

http://behavioralscientist.org/building-better-community-colleges-through-behavioral-science/

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USING SCIENCE

TO DESIGN FOR

PEOPLE:

BEHAVIORAL

INSIGHTS

http://behavioralscientist.org/cartoons/behavioral-science-fiction/

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Making choices is hard…

…so we often

delay making

decisions

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Lack self-control: Frequently don’t follow through

Hassle factorsProcrastination Inertia / acting automatically

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We take shortcuts (rules of thumb) to decide

Social norms

Influenced by our peers, importantly only those WE see as our peers.

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How we see

ourselves and

our emotional

states affect

our behavior

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Context of our choices matter

Decoy choices on menu: $ 52 steak makes $45

lamb chops more attractive

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We don’t appreciate that our minds

trick us

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We don’t appreciate that our minds

trick us

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Knowledge doesn’t make a difference

CONTEXT / ENVIRONMENT

STILL MATTERS

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So are we doomed by our irrationality?

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Behavioral design can help

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Works even when you recognize the nudges

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Leveraging inertia for good

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Providing the right amount of choice

Create enough choice to put the user in control** Too much choice overwhelms*

* Iyengar and Lepper (2000), When Choice is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of A Good Thing? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79 (6)**Just, D.R. & Wansink, B. (2009). Smarter Lunchrooms: Using Behavioral Economics to Improve Meal Selection Choices: The magazine of Food, Farm, and Resource Issues, 24 (3)

A M E R I C A N I N S T I T U T E S F O R R E S E A R C H | A I R . O R G 22

Making it personal: Using social norms

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Reminders help

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Many more examples

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Behavioral Insights Team - bi.team

Easy Principles to Guide Behavioral Design

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Practice: Using Behavior Change Strategy Cards(15 minutes)

Dan Ariely’s Irrational Game

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Practice Activity

1. LEARN: One person reads aloud the cards on your table

• Left side of card: Behavioral insight on the left

• Right side of card: Brainstorming questions and illustrative examples

2. DISCUSS: Discuss how the insights might apply to your work supporting states develop policies

3. SHARE: One person share what was discussed with the room

A M E R I C A N I N S T I T U T E S F O R R E S E A R C H | A I R . O R G

Reflections

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BEHAVIORAL

NUDGES:

LESSONS

FROM

EXPERIMENTS

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• I wondered what I had done

wrong…why was I being

called-in by the UI agency?

I was worried because the letter said that my benefits

would stop.

I had no idea what to expect…what would

happen at this meeting.

DOL TRIAL TO INCREASE TAKE UP OF REA PROGRAM IN MICHIGAN

31

Low-take up of REA despite proven success at increasing job placement and reducing UI claims duration

Source: Darling, Matthew, Christopher O’Leary, Irma Perez-Johnson, Jaclyn Lefkowitz, Ken Kline, Ben Damerow, Randall Eberts, Samia Amin, and Greg Chojnacki. “Simple Encouragement Emails Increased Take-Up of Reemployment Program.” Research Brief. Washington, DC: Mathematica Policy Research, May 2017.

A M E R I C A N I N S T I T U T E S F O R R E S E A R C H | A I R . O R G 32

Initial encouragement email

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Initial encouragement email (cont’d)

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Initial encouragement email (cont’d)

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“This trial helped us take a giant step back from our typical customer

process. The new lens has encouraged us to rethink how we approach all

of our work. Finding simple changes like this is becoming kind of a

standard of what we are applying widely across the organization. These

principles have infused every aspect of what it is we do. This little

intervention created a large change and was really a catalyst for our

involvement in additional pilot initiatives.”

– Eric Stewart, Manager

Staff Perspectives

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Priming positive identities

‘[Before] they didn’t even know if I

had exams... They didn’t know it

until the text messages started. I

think [our relationship] became

closer because every time they get

a text message they’re like, “Come

sit here”, and just go through

everything.’*

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Sending text messages to student’s supporters (friend or family) about key events

* Behavioral Insights Team Update Report 2016-2017, available at: http://38r8om2xjhhl25mw24492dir.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/BIT_Update-16-17_E_.pdf

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Journaling experiments to improve employment outcomes

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Reinsurance Industry Faces Uncertain Future as Time Moves OnBy Charles E. Boyle | July 2, 2015

The environment in which

choices are made matter.

Acknowledge and embrace

our roles as choice architects

A M E R I C A N I N S T I T U T E S F O R R E S E A R C H | A I R . O R G

Resources:

Practitioner’s Playbook for Applying Behavioral Insights to

Labor Programs, Program Design & Communication

Cheat Sheets:

https://www.dol.gov/asp/evaluation/BIStudy/

Behavior change strategy cards: https://www.artefactgroup.com/case-studies/behavior-change-strategy-cards/

Practitioner's Guide to Nudging: https://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/-/media/Images/Programs-and-Areas/behavioural-economics/GuidetoNudging-Rotman-Mar2013.pdf

World Development Report 2015: Mind, Society, and

Behavior: http://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/wdr2015

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A M E R I C A N I N S T I T U T E S F O R R E S E A R C H | A I R . O R G

Want to learn more?

[email protected]