Guiding the way to living greener - how psychology helped IA for a new government website

Guiding the way to living greener: how psychology helped IA for a new government website Oz IA 2009 | Ben Crothers, PTG Global

What do these 3 have in common? Cate Blanchett Leonardo DiCaprio Morgan Freeman

What do these 3 have in common? Cate Blanchett Has a solar-powered house Leonardo DiCaprio Lives in an eco-apartment Morgan Freeman Drives a hybrid car

The point?
It's easy to only think of others having one facet , not many facets
We are all a mix of wants, needs, habits and activities

Outline
The brief for designing livinggreener.gov.au
What we didn't do, and why
What we did do
How psychology principles contributed to the interaction concept, IA and UI

About me
I am a user experience designer/ information architect
I really enjoy online brand/everything 2.0/painting
Work : PTG Global as a senior consultant
Blog : catchmedia.com.au
Twitter : @bencrothers

The brief
Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) directed PTG to design personas , IA and user interfaces for a new government website: livinggreener.gov.au
‘ A portal ’ linking to lots of other websites
Not another ‘government website’
Other contractors : research and requirements, concept, visual design

The purpose
Provide information, assistance and advice for energy efficiency , water efficiency , waste reduction and recycling , and personal transport
Provide better ways to access government assistance , and how to apply for assistance
Encourage and mobilise people to live more sustainably

We could have done this...
We could have structured all the information just in terms of topics :
Energy
Water
Waste
Transport

IA the City Slickers way Barry can pick out the exact right flavor of ice cream to follow any meal. Go ahead. Challenge him. Challenge him? Go on. Franks and beans. Scoop of chocolate, scoop of vanilla. Don't waste my time. Come on. Push me. Grilled? I’m with you. Sea bass. Sautéed. Potatoes au gratin. Asparagus. Rum raisin. WOOF!

...but we didn’t.
‘ Scoop of chocolate, scoop of vanilla ’ wasn’t going to cut it
The ‘topic silos’ approach works if all we wanted was a ‘library’ model, but this wouldn't meet the needs to:
Not just educate , but motivate and mobilise
Provide better ways to access government assistance , and how to apply for that assistance

People are not use cases
We don’t start and end with one task , e.g. one Google query of ‘save money on energy bills’
“ Users are not monolithic or straightforward, but are complex and fragmented in nature” (Mackay et al, Reconfiguring the User )
Reference : Mackay et al, Reconfiguring the User: Using Rapid Application Development , Social Studies of Science (2000)

Designing for real people
Use cases are important, and define all the tasks and roles required
Workflows are important, and connect the tasks with the interface
But the motivations and situations of people doing the tasks can be left behind
Design has to account for the whole person
Personas to the rescue...

Personas - summary Motivations and commitment 1 . Helen 2 . Alison 3 . Ryan 4 . David 5 . Enso ‘ Protecting current and future health and wellbeing’ ‘ Saving energy and water’ ‘ Great energy and water efficiency’ ‘ Living more frugally’ ‘ Saving money on energy and water’ ‘ Living more sustainably’ ‘ Reducing environmental impact’ ‘ Living greener’ ‘ Saving the planet’ ‘ Lowering carbon footprint’

Personas – detail
Age : 43, home-owner
Occupation : Mum, part-time bookshop assistant
Attitudes : Protecting current and future health and wellbeing ; a bit of extra cost is worth it
Commitment : High; don’t let her see you put recyclable waste in the wrong rubbish bin
Motivation : Saving resources; needs to feel her actions and influence on others count
Helen Clifford COMMITTED GREENIE

Personas – detail
Age : 52, home owner
Occupation : Product Manager
Attitudes : Living frugally and cutting the cost of bills; worried about the rising costs of food, petrol, water and rates
Commitment : Low; too busy to care that much, and any concern is offset by cynicism
Motivation : security and convenience
Enso Moretti NON-GREEN METRO

Designing with motivational psychology
We were interested in what the research data revealed about:
Participant’s motivations ‏
Participant’s attitudes
The events that trigger responses to do something about the environment
Positive and negative influences on behaviour ‏
...as well the situations they are in (home, shopping, driving, working)

Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs helps to illustrate where different motivations spring from
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Maslow Motivations and decisions

It also helps us to locate personas and their motivations, and design for them accordingly
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Maslow Designing for people where they are at

Why is this important for IA?
People are motivated by different factors, and will behave differently
Our goal is to change people’s behaviour
Content strategy, navigation and UI need to:
Connect with them and their motivations
Encourage them through the task
Not get in the way, or discourage

How IA can affect behaviour change Event Motivation for solution Positive influences Negative influences No action Action Attitudes TRIGGERS DECISION TO BE MADE AT WEBSITE POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT

Example 1: Helen and insulation Event: insulation rebate Motivation for solution Positive influences Negative influences No action Action Attitudes: Saving resources for the future; ambassador TRIGGERS POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
The government is doing something about the situation
Be seen to be doing something significant
Use the website to apply for the rebate
Commit to another larger step of change?
Return to the website to tell others about what she did

Example 1: IA considerations Event: insulation rebate Motivation for solution Positive influences Negative influences No action Action Attitudes: Saving resources for the future; ambassador TRIGGERS POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
Clear labelling and signals for rebate information throughout the website
Clear labelling for applying for the rebate
Provide a way for Helen to submit her own story , or discuss with others, as her next step
Provide other ways that Helen could ‘ be an ambassador ’ for installing ceiling insulation

Example: Enso and insulation Event: insulation rebate Motivation for solution Positive influences Negative influences No action Action Attitudes: Worried about costs; keep it simple; cynical TRIGGERS POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
Facts, figures and calculators
Smaller-scale changes can save money
Use calculators on the website to see how insulation saves money
Read about – and commit to – smaller-scale behaviour changes
Use the website to apply for the rebate
Too expensive
Doesn’t trust the government

Example: IA considerations Event: insulation rebate Motivation for solution Positive influences Negative influences No action Action Attitudes: Saving resources for the future; ambassador TRIGGERS POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
Short, simple facts and chunking of information
Calculators (that work)
Clear labelling for applying for the rebate
Clear labelling for smaller-scale behaviours
Provide ways of encouraging bigger steps of change after smaller steps

Leading people on a journey
Capture people at the point of need...
Based on a Google search inquiry
Expressed in familiar language
Acknowledging effort already made
… and guide them through to more activity
Similar activities across other topics
Larger-scale activities with incentives

Interaction model: the ‘concierge’
Providing easy immediate access to requested information
Putting it in overall context of living ‘greener’
Offering alternative actions to take
Trading off the ways that we can be influenced and persuaded
Focusing on knowing what to do first, then doing it

The proposed IA schema Home News Be informed Take action Rebates, grants & loans News stories Campaigns News archive Saving energy Saving water Save energy Save water Home owners Renters and landlords About this portal Contact us Search results Accessibility - Separate news stories - Separate campaign pages
Articles
Links directory pages
Articles
Step-by-step guides
Hints and tips
What you can do today
Step-by-step guides
Hints and tips
Rebates, loans and grants by topic
Content aggregation page Primary navigation page Secondary navigation page Reducing waste
Articles
Smarter transport
Articles
Reduce waste
Step-by-step guides
Hints and tips
Travel smarter
Step-by-step guides
Hints and tips
Schools
At home In the garden Shopping Travel

The proposed IA schema
Alternate home pages , or content aggregation pages, tailored to specific audiences and situations
Exposing the most relevant cross-section of content for each audience
At home In the garden Shopping Travel

User interface design
Initial low-fidelity concept sketching to field ideas with the client...
The refined...

User interface design

Visual design

In closing...
Design for people , not just use cases; take a holistic approach
Your personas are your partners ; use them to explore the motivations behind behaviours, and cater for those motivations
A ‘concierge’ journey-based model can make content more integrated and compelling

Thank you
Ben Crothers Senior consultant PTG Global
Live greener : livinggreener.gov.au
Blog : catchmedia.com.au
Twitter : @bencrothers

Thank you

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Guiding the way to living greener - how psychology helped IA for a new government website

by Ben Crothers on Oct 03, 2009

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