Overview

In this project, I explore a solution to help people along the path toward positive behaviour change. With expert contributions from psychologists working in the fields of competitive sport, change management, creative performance and healthcare, I created a toolkit to help individuals adopt healthier behaviours and work toward personal goals using the power of creative storytelling.

The resulting solution pairs user-friendly illustrations with evidence-based experiential exercises to communicate psychological concepts at a glance while maximising impact. The toolkit leverages our intrinsic affinity for stories in order to engage, motivate and guide individuals toward their preferred future.

Background

Most people can name behavioural changes they would like to make, such as becoming more active, reducing nicotine or alcohol use, or saving for the future. Our everyday behaviours, from the foods we eat to the time we go to bed, are deeply entwined with our overall quality of life. These effects can even ripple outwards to our loved ones and wider networks, shaping the environments we live in. Many behaviours manifest as deeply ingrained habits, formed through repetition and driven by influences outside of our awareness. The effects of our habits eventually surface in every aspect of life, from health and relationships to financial stability and even climate change. Small changes accumulate over time, compounding toward positive or negative outcomes.

There is an established need for tools to help people modify their behaviours. The market is responding to this need, with approximately 350,000 health apps and numerous wearable tech products currently available aimed at helping people to track their sleep, count steps, and make healthier food choices. However, there remain serious issues with the effectiveness of these behaviour tracking-based solutions. This project explores an alternative approach to helping people change their behaviour.

Problem

People who are motivated to change their behaviour often struggle to do so. We prioritise the present moment over the future ( a phenomenon known as the intention-action gap). We tell ourselves that a healthy, disciplined future version of ourselves will pick up the slack for today’s unhealthy choices. But intention predicts as little as 30% of health behaviours.

Although wearables and trackers aim to close this gap, they experience significant drop-off rates (i.e. 50% and 88% respectively). When people try and fail to change, they face not only health, financial, and relational consequences but also negative emotions like frustration, shame, and regret.

Solution

The Power Compass is a toolkit that leverages the principles of speculative design, psychology and futures thinking to support behaviour change. The solution consists of a deck of cards combining concepts and exercises to close the intention-action gap by connecting people to compelling self-generated narratives. Through these narratives, people transform obstacles into opportunities for learning and growth and discover what really matters to them to move toward meaningful goals. The kit was designed as a therapeutic tool for psychologists but can also be adapted to corporate, private, or athletic settings to bring values, goals and behaviours into alignment.