Abstract

The design community has an increasing interest in behaviour change and applying it intentionally in design processes. At the same time, practitioners from diverse fields such as health and policy have embraced behavioural economics theory to inform behaviour change interventions. The success of behavioural economics—or nudge—theory can be explained by its visible results with small investments; however, its application is limited to discrete problems and long-term effects are unclear. Designers look for possibilities and desirable futures rather than discrete interventions based on science. This article is a critical review of behavioural economics theory and its limited application in designing products and systems that are expected to change human behaviours or lifestyles. A behavioural economics-driven design process only works for situations that are narrow and specific. In the majority of design projects, behavioural economics concepts are a reference that informs designers and some design activities like ideation.

摘要

设计界对行为改变的兴趣越来越大，并有意将其应用到设计过程中。与此同时，来自健康和政策等不同领域的从业者已经采用行为经济学理论来为行为改变干预提供信息。行为经济学或轻推理论的成功可以用小额投资的可见结果来解释；然而，它的应用仅限于离散问题，长期影响尚不清楚。设计师寻找可能性和理想的未来，而不是基于科学的离散干预。本文是对行为经济学理论及其在设计预期会改变人类行为或生活方式的产品和系统方面的有限应用的批判性评论。行为经济学驱动的设计过程仅适用于狭隘和具体的情况。在大多数设计项目中，行为经济学概念是为设计师和一些设计活动（如构思）提供信息的参考。