Presented by Roxana M. Barbu, PhD, Cognitive data specialist. Digital solutions offer great promise to positively impact health and wellness outcomes from improved water drinking to the effective management of chronic conditions. These novel digital solutions provide increasing access to treatment and advice, however, their mere existence is not sufficient to ensure users will actively use them. Needles to say, in order for the users to achieve the intended positive outcomes, they must stay on the path towards their desired behavioural outcome long enough – that is the hardest test. This talk will present a novel heuristic evaluation – 13 principles – intended to assess whether an app has what it takes to lead to meaningful behaviour change. Access the full recording via NewMR.org/Play-Again

1. Design for behaviour change
Roxana-Maria Barbu
Cognitive data specialist
May 2021

2. Sponsors
Communication

3. EST 1997
3
Design for behaviour change
Roxana-Maria Barbu, PhD – Cognitive Data Specialist

4. 4
Agenda
01 Confessions
02 The 3R model
03 Behaviour change
complexities
04 App-
independence
05 Takeaways

5. 5
Behaviour change is hard.

6. 6
The transition from intention to
successful, long-lasting behaviour
change, though paved with good
intentions … has with twice as many
barriers.

7. 7
The 3R model of behaviour change
Reward
Routine
Reminder

8. Poll
How long does it take
to achieve long-lasting
behaviour change (on
average)?
a) 5 days
b) 21 days
c) 66 days
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9. 9
66 days is the average time it takes to
achieve long-lasting behaviour change
(i.e., to form a new habit). It can be as
fast as 18 days, and up to 254 days.
Source: Promoting Habit Formation
Phillippa Lally & Benjamin Gardner, 2013
Journal of Health Psychology Review
How long does it take
to achieve long-lasting
behaviour change (on
average)?
a) 5 days
b) 21 days
c) 66 days

10. 10
Barriers & advantages

11. 11 The psychology of behaviour change is complex!
Chaotic Performance
High cognitive effort cost
Transition Point
(Differs between people)
REPETITION 18 – 254 DAYS
Automatic Behaviour
Low cognitive effort cost
BRAIN
REWIRING
Dropping
Bad habits
INTRINSIC MOTIVATION
Motivated by
external cues
Motivated by
internal rewards
EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION
GOAL HABIT
Motivation
Type:

12. 12
Automatic
Effortless (with a low cognitive cost)
App-independent
A true habit is …

13. Let’s look at a concrete
example of how an app
can support the user in
becoming app
independent.
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14. Takeaways
The 3R model
That’s just the beginning!
Behaviour change is
complex
Habits are not formed in silo
App-independence
True habit formation is not app
dependent.
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15. EST 1997
Thank you!
Architect the Future of Healthcare
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Contact:
Roxana Maria Barbu, PhD; Cognitive Data Specialist
rbarbu@macadamian.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/roxanamariabarbu/

16. Q & A
Ray Poynter
Potentiate &
NewMR
Roxana-Maria Barbu
Cognitive data specialist

17. Resources
8 Behaviour Change Design Tips
Why Digital Health Apps fail
Digital Health Apps and
Behaviour Change (podcast)
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18. Sponsors
Communication

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User Journey
Pre-Onboarding
First Date
At this stage of the journey,
users are browsing apps,
scrolling through tons of
them, and deciding which
ones may be right for them.
They need to be impressed
enough to download the app.
It’s similar to someone
wondering if they should go
on that first date.
Onboarding
Honeymoon Phase
Users are giving the app a try.
This could go two ways: users are
either intrigued and excited by
the newly acquired experience,
or they don’t like it and they
delete the app.
Daily Usage
Long-lasting Partnership
If users enjoy the app, it
remains on their phone and
they may use it daily.
Product teams typically focus
on features and functionality
that live within this stage.
While it is an important part of
the experience, some users
may never make it this far.
Growth & Beyond
til’ Death Do Us Part
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20. Digital health apps do not
exist in a silo. They are
user and environment
dependent.
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