This document discusses the importance of defining behavioral goals for a business rather than just business goals. It notes that behavioral goals focus on measurable and observable changes in people's actions, cognition, or emotions. Examples are provided to illustrate the difference between a business goal of increasing paid subscribers versus a behavioral goal of getting more people to click the register button. The document emphasizes that taking time to define goals in behavioral terms will lead to more focused brainstorming and effective work.

1. BRAINSTORMING FOR
BEHAVIORAL GOALS

2. “My sickness is that I’m fascinated by
human behavior, by what’s
underneath the surface, by the worlds
inside people.”
- JOHNNY DEPP

3. What do people need to do in order for your
business to be successful?
BUSINESS GOALS
VS.
BEHAVIORAL GOALS

4. BUSINESS GOALS
ADOPTION
RETENTION
INCREASED SALES
PROFITIBILITY
EFFICIENCY
ETC.

5. BEHAVIORAL GOALS
CHANGES IN PEOPLE’S ACTIONS
OBSERVABLE CHANGES
MEASURABLE CHANGES
CHANGES IN COGNITION* OR EMOTION
*group of mental processes that includes attention, memory, producing
and understanding language, learning, reasoning, problem solving, and
decision making.

6. EXAMPLES
BUSINESS GOAL
Increase the number of paid subscribers
BEHAVIOR GOAL
Get more people to click on the register button
Help people understand our pricing plan options

7. BUSINESS GOALS
OFTEN FAN OUT
TO MULTIPLE
BEHAVIORAL GOALS

8. As we dive into busy, and often agressive, projects it’s
easy to lose focus on the essentials and lose track of
the slight distinctions that set great products apart.

9. The extra time we take to write our goals in
behavioral terms will result in more focused and
effective group and individual
brainstorming sessions.

10. WE FOCUSED.
WE DID THE WORK
OF THE WORK.
WE HAVE OUR
BEHAVIORAL GOALS.
NOW WHAT?

11. MENTAL NOTES
Created by Stephen P. Anderson
Illustrated by Kevin Cornell
Gifting Recognition
Persu
Asion
We feel the need to reciprocate when given
something as a gift.
over Recall
At tention / Persu
Asion
It’s easier to recognize things we have
Persuasion
Memory
previously experienced than it is to recall
those things from memory.
What can you give away? It could be a free account
Attention
Understanding
or upgrade. Maybe a free report (personal informatics
Multiple choice or one-click options are an easy way for
are interesting). Perhaps a gift card. Make it something
people to interact with a site. When asking people to list
unexpected. And if other similar services are giving away
things from memory, try complementing (or replacing) empty
the same thing, it’s not a gift—it’s expected.
form fields with defined, random or intelligent choices that
people can click on or rate.
See also: Visual Imagery, Limited Choices, Contrast,
See also: Delighters, Variable Rewards, Badges Feedback Loop

12. IN ORDER TO GET OUTSIDE
THE BOX, WE MUST KNOW
WHAT DEFINES THE BOX.
THANK YOU.