Design Intelligence #16: Nudge me
If we want people to make better choices, we have to make the choices better. A handful of new strategies, programs and tools are doing just that.
The idea: Creating behaviour change
Research by the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations has found that British people are now significantly more ‘carbon-capable’ than in 2008, meaning that they understand climate change and know broadly what changes they should make. To encourage them to make those changes, we need to take the radical step of making the environmentally responsible choice easy, affordable and attractive, and wherever possible, present it as the default option. Thanks to a combination of advancing tech, changing social attitudes and co-operation between forward-thinking companies, this is increasingly happening.
Sometimes just pointing out that another option is there is enough to nudge people towards lower-impact choices. Billie Eilish teamed with Google Maps to highlight plant-based eateries near her tour venues. Amtrak options now show up if you search Google Flights in the US, with the message “consider getting the train”, and ride-share users can set their Uber preference to electric cars.
Other strategies are persuading people by making the commitment to change seem that bit more possible. As car companies face the pressure of ever-closer decarbonisation targets, they’re finding creative ways to keep purchases of electric vehicles growing: Ford offers a free home charger (with installation) for customers buying an EV.
Making the most of the access we now have to real-time energy data, Octopus Energy helps people to save money by alerting them to use renewable energy as it’s captured. The company sends phone alerts to homeowners when wind power is abundant and affordable, prompting them to use energy-intensive appliances during those times. It also incentivises smart energy use with rewards like free cinema tickets and hot drinks - useful and desirable treats that people can enjoy within their day-to-day lives, making the more responsible choice meaningfully better.
One of the great selling points of reuse is that it’s often cheaper. In part because of this, reuse habits are taking off in a way that other ‘sustainable lifestyles’ have not. Gen Z in particular have been buying more used phones, while 58% of people in the UK have reduced the number of new products they buy over the past year, and 56% have repaired an item, per Deloitte. In refill - an area that has been tried so much and given up on so often by retailers over the past decade - brands are succeeding by making it a quick, convenient and affordable habit for customers. Ocado recently announced it is expanding its refill scheme to laundry products after seeing three times the level of demand anticipated for its refilled pasta and rice.
Collaborative programs are increasing in scale and ambition. Starting in January, a three-month trial in Glasgow will see more than fifty coffee shops, including major chains and independents, team up to offer a deposit-and-return scheme for reusable cups, which can be returned in any of the shops. The trial’s aim is to find out whether collaborating in this way can make reusable cups stick with customers, by removing a few of their biggest painpoints.
And last but not least, infrastructure innovations are showing people that the lower-carbon choice is not only possible, but an all-around better experience. High speed rail (at 220mph, faster than Japan’s shinkansen) will be in operation in California from 2030, and is a surprisingly bipartisan investment. “I’m firmly convinced that the first time the first customer buys a first ticket for the first true high-speed rail trip on US soil, there will be no going back,” US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said this spring. “People will expect and demand it everywhere.”
We spend so much time trying to convince people that the more expensive, less convenient, less enjoyable option is the one that they should be buying or using. Instead, let’s make the ethical choice easy, make it the default, and create the conditions for people to see for themselves that it’s the better option.
📕 My work
I have some very exciting book news, coming soon!
🗒️ Research notes
Business spending on environmental responsibility is climbing back up after its post-pandemic dip
“If nature was the creative director, I don’t think our products would look beige, minimalist and polite” - Faith in Nature’s Simeon Rose on the beauty company’s business model, which functions as though nature is in charge, including having two board members to represent it
Tech is undergoing a ‘re-buttoning’ as touchscreen fatigue sets in
Amazon is developing AR glasses to optimise its delivery drivers’ efficiency
As more people and organisations start to leave X, alternative social media platform Bluesky has been gaining 1 million new users a day this month (I’m on Bluesky and I like it, it feels like early-years Twitter. Come on over!)
🚲 Interesting products
Chris Doel hacked together 130 used vape batteries into a makeshift 48-volt ebike battery and rode the bike for more than 20 miles from the power they provided. The project highlights the amount of use and life that is left in “disposable” e-waste when it gets thrown out
Cell Yourself by the Liminal Space is a concept for a DIY stem cell kit that aims to spark conversations on how to use this controversial technology, as it becomes more prominent in healthcare
Copper’s plug-in induction oven and hob has tactile wooden dials
📒 Reading
A Few Rules for Predicting the Future by Octavia Butler (2000)