Designing products, programs and services that make and sustain behavior change is a top priority in the US today and a central concern in cognitive design. Making improvements at work, saving enough for retirement, establishing a healthy life style, effective self-care for those with chronic diseases and even moving to “green practices” are all mega issues with personal behavior change at the core.
In recognition of its importance, the NIH roadmap for medical research has initiated a new pilot program on the Science of Behavior Change. They recognize that at “40% of all preventable premature deaths are due to specific patterns of behavior” and that “breakthroughs in the science of behavior change could lead to substantial improvements in public health.”
The goal is to create an integrated science of behavior change (a daunting task) and ”then support exploratory and interdisciplinary research applying new emerging science to the general problems of the initiation, personalization, and maintenance of behavior change.”
If productive this work will be a treasure trove for the designer interested in creating new health, savings and organizational change programs base on scientific insights into the cognition of self-regulation (self control) and behavior change.
