Output details

The design with intent method: A design tool for influencing user behaviour

Published in the leading human factors journal Applied Ergonomics, this article presented Design with Intent, an innovation toolkit for designers working on behaviour change for social and environmental benefit.

Using design to influence user behaviour offers potential for social and environmental benefit, yet little guidance has been available at the early stages of the design process. The Design with Intent toolkit provides a library of design patterns that relate to behaviour change, illustrated here via application to an everyday human-technology interaction problem.

Originality derives from the synthesis of techniques from a range of fields into a form applicable during the design process. This article, co-written by Lockton with Harrison and Stanton, was one of the first to discuss design for behaviour change in a human factors context, and has been widely cited by a range of researchers, including those working on persuasive technology for healthcare services, games design, industrial safety, laundry practices, technology ethics, digital rights and teaching materials for students with disabilities. Anecdotal evidence suggests that making an open access preprint available broadened the audience beyond those who would habitually read ergonomics journals.

Commercially, design researchers at Philips, Eindhoven used the Design with Intent toolkit in the development of a household energy game, citing this article in their Human Computer Interaction (CHI) 2011 conference presentation (Shrubsole et al. 2011: 669–72), and Australian consultancy Zumio referenced the article extensively in a white paper on design thinking and sustainability (Young 2010).

Lockton’s REF Output 3 is the main version of the toolkit publicly released; this paper provided an academic commentary, explanation of the method, and example application. The article broadened the environmentally focused scope of Lockton’s REF Output 1 to other areas of social benefit where people-centred design could provide a useful contribution.