BCD is an approach that blends behavioral science and design thinking to create breakthrough solutions to environmental challenges. It can also be referred to as human-centered design. Design approaches put people at the heart of solutions using a creative methodology and is built with behavior change in mind.
The video highlights an 8-step approach, that aligns to other improvement methodologies like DMAIC and PDCA, and works ideally once you identify a key behavior that needs to be changed.
- Frame
- Goal: Identify target behaviors and core actors.
- Tools: Problem-Behavior-Actor Mapping (or Systems Map with factors affecting behaviors), Stakeholder Analysis, Community Walks (Gemba walks)
- Outcome: Defined behavior and audience for your challenge.
- Empathize
- Goal: Gather research on your core audience’s motivations and barriers.
- Tools: Behavioral journeys, Surveys, Interviews, Focus groups, Participatory photography, Participant observation, Levers of Behavior Change, Paseo Protocol (Circles of Identity)
- Outcome: Gathered data from your core audience on motivations and barriers for the target behavior.
- Map
- Goal: Analyze your data and write a hypothesis about what you think will change behavior.
- Tools: Writing hypotheses, Audience personas, Theories of change, Data analysis, Consensus workshops
- Outcome: At least one hypothesis about what could change behavior for your core actors
- Ideate
- Goal: Brainstorm solutions based on your hypothesis.
- Tools: Brainstorming, Playing a solutions game, Using an impact-feasibility (Impact-Ease) matrix for ideas
- Outcome: Prioritized list of solutions
- Prototype
- Goal: Develop a small-scale version of your solution that can be tested.
- Tools: Prototype competitions, Designing a low-cost user experience, Storyboarding, Sketching
- Outcome: Draft version of your solution that can be tested.
- Test
- Goal: Test your prototyped solution with a few members of your core audience and get feedback.
- Tools: Focus groups, Simulations, Interviews
- Outcome: Tested your prototype and incorporated feedback from your core audience.
- Launch
- Goal: Launch your solution at scale.
- Tools: Assessment plan, Launch Plan, Budget Plan, Planning experiments at scale (how to measure, user feedback, randomized control trial (RCT), pre-post tests, rapid assessments, statistical analysis)
- Outcome: You can describe how, when, and where you launched your solution.
- Assess
- Goal: Measure and monitor the impact of your solution using a set of indicators.
- Tools: Writing research questions, Conducting surveys, focus groups, or interviews, Reflecting and sharing learnings, Data analysis (statistical analysis)
- Outcome: You have evaluated your behavior change solution and have plans to monitor change over time.
Within the Empathize phase, RARE has created a behavior change framework comprised of six behavioral ‘levers’ that practitioners can ‘pull’ to help identify motivations and barriers, and help come up with solutions to these barriers.
- Emotional Appeals – Using emotional messages to drive behavior
- Social Influences – Leveraging the behavior, beliefs, and expectations of others
- Choice Architecture – Changing the context in which choices are made
- Information – Providing information about what the desired behavior is, why it matters, and how to do it
- Material Incentives – Increasing or decreasing real or perceived costs, time, and effort for doing a behavior
- Rules & Regulations – Enacting rules that constrict or promote a behavior
To learn more about BCD, you can take a free online course at https://behavior.rare.org/intro-to-bcd/
