Why are some digital experiences utterly engaging—addicting, even—and others can’t hold people’s attention for more than a few minutes (we’re looking at you, employer-mandated health risk assessments)? In a world where there are hundreds of thousands of apps in the health and wellness category alone, an engaging experience is a must to win space on someone’s smartphone. In this webinar, we’ll dive into the behavior science behind motivation to uncover some of the qualities of truly engaging digital experiences. We begin with an understanding of what it means to be engaged, and how to decide what level of engagement is needed for a particular experience. Then, we dive into a robust and well-researched theory of motivation, self-determination theory, to understand what makes certain experiences stick. It’s all about identifying and pushing the “levers of motivation” by designing for the fundamental psychological needs that make people tick. Behavior Change Design Director Amy Bucher, Ph.D., will walk through industry-best examples of engaging digital experiences ranging from video games to educational tools to health interventions. She’ll offer a list of best practices for each of the key levers of motivation: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Learn how to super-charge your digital products with psychology.

1. ENGAGEMENT IS EVERYTHING:
HOW TO APPLY PSYCHOLOGY TO
IMPROVE DIGITAL EXPERIENCES
Amy Bucher, Ph.D.
Behavior Change Design Director
Mad*Pow

3. PEOPLE DON’T PARTICIPATE
IN HEALTH AND WELLNESS
PROGRAMS
Fewer than ½ of employees complete
wellness screenings and HRAs when
offered
Just 10% of eligible participants enroll in
employer-based weight loss interventions
Participation in disease management
programs is around 16% for eligible
employees
Only 7% of eligible employees participate
in smoking cessation programs
Mattke, S., Liu, H., Caloyeras, J. P., Huang,
C. Y., Van Busum, K. R., Khodyakov, D., &
Shier, V. (2013). Workplace wellness
programs study. Rand Corporation.

4. OUTCOMES
=
EFFICACY
x
PARTICIPATION

5. PARTICIPATION ≠ ENGAGEMENT

6. ENGAGEMENT

7. MOTIVATION
DESIRE WITH VELOCITY

8. “IT’S NOT THAT I’M LAZY, IT’S THAT I
JUST DON’T CARE.”

10. SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY
OVERVIEW

11. TYPES OF MOTIVATION: SELF
DETERMINATION THEORY
AutonomousControlled
Long-term change
happens here!
Sources:
Ryan & Deci (2000)
Segar & Hall (2011)
Amotivated
I have no desire
to do this.
External
Someone told
me I have to
do this.
Introjected
I’ve internalized
the nagging:
Better do this.
Identified
Doing this will
help me achieve
goals I really
value.
Integrated
Doing this is part
of who I am.
Intrinsic
I love doing
this; it feels
great!

12. Wrzesniewski, A., Schwartz, B., Cong, X., Kane, M., Omar, A., & Kolditz, T. (2014). Multiple types of motives don’t multiply the motivation of West Point cadets. Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences, 111(30), 10990-10995. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1405298111
EFFECTS OF MULTIPLE MOTIVES IN THE
MILITARY
Mostly Intrinsic
Mostly Extrinsic
Mixed Motives
Outcomes:
• More likely to
become an officer
• More likely to be
considered for early
promotion
• More likely to stay in
the military after
mandatory service
Outcomes:
• Less likely to become
an officer
• Less likely to be
considered for early
promotion
• Less likely to stay in
the military after
mandatory service

13. “I can make my own meaningful choices”
“I am learning, growing, and succeeding.”
“I am part of something bigger than myself. I belong.”
Autonomy
Competence
Relatedness
Motivation
THE LEVERS OF MOTIVATION
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55, 68-78.

14. HOW TO SUPPORT FUNDAMENTAL NEEDS
Autonomy Support
• Establish shared rules of engagement
• Minimize external pressure
• Provide maximum choice
Competence Support
• Make developmentally appropriate demands
• Offer relevant feedback
• Create optimal challenge
Relatedness Support
• Communicate warmth
• Create a sense of involvement
• Convey belongingness

15. PERCEIVED AUTONOMY
Help people feel they have control

16. SHARED RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
Patients educated about
the experience via Emmi
Solutions intervention
before undergoing a
colonoscopy had better
outcomes including:
• 18% less sedation
medication
• 14% decrease in
procedure duration
• 11% more knowledgeable

17. MINIMIZE EXTERNAL PRESSURE
• Calibrate reward amounts
• Tie rewards to meaningful
behaviors
• Consider non-financial
rewards when possible,
preferably goal-consistent

21. Personal ChoiceValue Expression

22. THE SECRET TO
WEIGHT LOSS
CALORIES IN
CALORIES OUT

23. Value-
Consistent
Framing

29. Emphasize the benefits
to the preferred choice
Show what’s missing
from the non-preferred
choice
Use design to create
visual appeal

31. PERCEIVED COMPETENCE
Help people feel they can do it

32. ENHANCE USER ABILITY

33. EFFECTS OF BASELINE MEASUREMENT ON
BEHAVIOR: EFFICIENT FLIGHT BEHAVIOR FOR
AIRLINE PILOTS
Gosnell, G. K., List, J. A., & Metcalfe, R. (working paper). A new approach to an age-old problem: Solving
externalities by incenting workers directly. NBER Working Paper No. 22316. June 2016. JEL No.
D01.J3,Q5,R4. Retrieved June 29, 2016 from http://papers.nber.org/tmp/821-w22316.pdf
Before After Change
Monitoring Only 31% 48% +17%
Feedback 31% 52% +21%
Personal Target 31% 53% +22%
Charity Donation 31% 51% +20%

34. 2xweight loss in people who track food
6+ days per week vs. people who track
less than 11
1. Hollis, J. F. et al. (2008). Weight loss during the intensive intervention phase of the weight-loss maintenance trial. American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 32(5),
118-126.
2. Kruger, J., Blanck, H. M., & Gillespie, C. (2006). Dietary and physical activity behaviors among adults successful at weight loss maintenance. International Journal of
Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 3.
3. Bravata, D. M., et al. (2007). Using pedometers to increase physical activity and improve health: A systematic review. Journal of the American Medical Association,
298(19), 2296-2304.
18%of successful dieters kept a calorie
diary, vs. 8% of unsuccessful dieters2
People using pedometers keep their
physical activity at 27%above baseline
levels3

35. Opower.com
1.4 – 3.3% energy use reduction per household (Alcott, 2011)

38. MULTIPLE LEVELS OF FEEDBACK

40. YOU’VE EARNED A BADGE!

41. “One reported
reason for
ending these
badges is
precisely what
would be
predicted by
self-
determination
theory: users
began to ‘game’
the system,
looking to
circumvent the
health behavior
simply to get
the badge.”
Rigby, C. S. (2015). “Gamification and motivation,” in S. P. Walz & S. Deterding (eds.), The Gameful World: Approaches, Issues, Applications. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

42. 1. http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/01/26/just-how-big-is-starbucks-mobile-order-pay-and-wha.aspx,
retrieved May 10, 2016
2. http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2016/04/21/starbucks-posts-highest-revenue-of-any-non-holiday.html,
retrieved May 10, 2016
22%
of transactions
in
December 2015
1
8 million
mobile transactions
per month
2

43. WHAT IF?

44. TASK ORDER MATTERS
• Time-consuming,
draining tasks? Go hard
to easy
• Learning, growth-
oriented tasks? Go easy
to hard

45. 1 2
3

46. DOES IT WORK?
http://duolingo.com/#/effectiveness-study
34 Hours of
Duolingo
1 University
Semester

47. PERCEIVED RELATEDNESS
Show people they’re connected

48. Harlow Maslow

51. Reactive
Proactive

53. NORMATIVE FEEDBACK: A DELICATE
BALANCE
”It’s ok . . . Everyone has
trouble quitting so I
don’t need to try that
hard.”
“I’m not alone in this
struggle; other people
have succeeded and I
can too.”
Recent research shows that many people may try
to quit smoking more than thirty times before they
finally succeed.

54. PERSONALIZATION CREATES A
RELATIONSHIP

56. EVERYTHING IS BETTER WITH FRIENDS

57. WHEN IS ENGAGEMENT NOT
EVERYTHING?

58. Behavior
happens
away from
the digital
experience

59. Behavior
doesn’t
happen
frequently

60. The user’s
needs
change
over time

61. PULLING IT ALL TOGETHER

62. Physical Therapy is a pain (literally). Regimens
can be uncomfortable, hard to remember and
relentlessly boring resulting in low-adherence,
longer, frustrating recovery times and additional
costs for both the patient and the provider.
Our focus centered on designing a stimulating,
immersive and rewarding experience where
patients could safely and accurately perform their
PT regime while providing enough sensory
stimulus / juicy feedback to curb monotony and
instill a sense of personal mastery.
Clinics using Vera for PT see an astonishing
70% adherence rate to 30 minutes per day
regimens.
Inspiring PT patients at
every step of their Rehab
Journey

63. SDT APPLIED TO FITNESS: THE
MAPMYRUN 2015 YEAR IN REVIEW
Autonomy &
Competence
Competence
Autonomy &
Relatedness

64. VOTE FOR US TO GO TO SXSW!
PANELPICKER.SXSW.COM
Moral Issues in Designing
for
Behavior Change
Motivational science tells us
that to engage people in
behavior change, we must
respect and support their
autonomy—their ability to
make what we as experts
may think is the wrong choice.
We’ll explore the boundaries
and limitations of this science.
When do business goals take
precedence over user goals?

65. THANK YOU!
Amy Bucher, Ph.D.
amybucherphd.com
@amybphd
abucher@madpow.net