Looking to influence user behaviour? Set your compass to EAST
Product managers love a good framework and one of my favourites is the 'EAST' framework for designing choice architecture.?Developed by the UK Behavioural Insights Team, aka the ‘Nudge Unit’, the EAST framework is lovingly simple, which makes it’s a great acronym to keep in your back pocket ready to go.
So what is it all about?
The EAST framework helps us to create experiences that influence user behaviour. When we go about designing our websites, products, and other customer interactions, if we can address each of the 4 EAST components, then we will stand much more chance of nudging users towards the right direction.
The 4 components of the EAST framework are:
Let’s dive into each of these in more detail and discuss how we might apply them in product design.
Make it EASY
If we want people to do something, we need to make that thing as easy as possible. We are all busy and distracted by countless attractions, and we are often searching for the fastest route to get from A to B.
In forms, defaulting users to a specific option has been proven time and again to not only result in the user selecting that option, but also in their likelihood to complete and submit that form. The key consideration when defaulting an option for a user is to ensure that it is not likely to disadvantage the user.
Another thing we can do as product designers is to take on as many difficult tasks as possible on behalf of the user.
For example, if we are asking a user to go and find their health insurance member number, we should seriously consider whether we actually need this information. If we do need it, perhaps we can let the user sign-up or submit the form first and then find this information later.
In another example, rather than asking someone to enter their full address in 5 different input boxes, instead use an auto-complete address look-up service, like the one provided by Google.
By the way, you shouldn’t be using a ‘confirm email address’ input field in 2021. It’s almost akin to a confirm first name or postal address. If you really need to make sure the user enters a correct email, then fill it with validations and follow it up with a quick ping or verification email.
Make it ATTRACTIVE
Shiny object. Flashing lights. Dopamine. Dopamine.
领英推荐
If we want people to do something, we have to give them a good reason to do it. This might be a financial incentive, such as a payment or a discount on a product. We might also look to make the process as enjoyable as possible. We can achieve this through well designed forms, striking imagery and engaging content.
Gamification comes to the fore in making it attractive for a user to complete a behaviour. In Nir Eyal’s ‘Hooked model’, he talks about a loop consisting of the steps: trigger, action, variable reward, and investment. The variable reward gives the user ‘payback’ for completing an action and encourages them to complete more. In a webform, this might be as simple as having a micro-animation of a green tick appearing when a field is completed.
Make it SOCIAL
Humans are social beings and indeed much of our behaviours can be traced back to our desire to impress and fit in with other people. We have a strong need to be recognised and loved by our peers and people we respect.
As product designers there are numerous techniques that we can utilise that take advantage of this human characteristic.
Consumers are heavily influenced by what other people have done – especially those that they respect or that they feel are just like them. If a website displays testimonials from people who look and sound just like them, they are much more likely to listen to their opinion. This is also why social media influencers exist – because their followers respect their opinions and marketers will pay them for their microphone.
Influencing a decision can be as simple as stating that ‘9 out of 10 people choose option x’. Also, if we can convince our customers to tell others about our products and services, their word of mouth will be much more influential than a stranger’s.
Make it TIMELY
A key ingredient in influencing a decision is to present information to the consumer at the right time. Snack foods at petrol stations are a perfect example of this. Very few people head to a petrol station to buy a Snickers bar, but people get hungry when they drive and when they’re paying for their fuel it’s so convenient to just pick up a choccy and add it to the bill. It’s unlikely that Snickers sales would do well if they were placed at the pay counter of an all-you-can-eat buffet.
There is a cognitive bias called ‘recency bias’, which means that humans favour recent events over those that have happened more in the past. When consumers make purchase decisions, they are more likely to consider ads and other promotions that have been presented to them in the past few days over those that they saw six months ago. It’s important that your products are in a consumer’s consideration set at the time when they want to purchase, not 3 months before or later.
When extolling the benefits of your product, focus on the immediate rewards that the consumer will experience right away, rather than those that will materialise in the more distant future.
Go EAST, nudges are powerful there
Sure, there are more detailed and scientific approaches to influencing user behaviour, but how many of them can you remember and apply in everyday work situations? If you remember only one thing today, remember EAST – Easy, Attractive, Social and Timely. Just like that, you’re already on your way to architecting more thoughtful experiences that achieve your product goals.