No one (actively) wants to make bad decisions.
No one (actively) wants to deliver bad service.
Yet both bad decisions and bad service are present in our
lives.
The three above statements are
undeniable. A legitimate question is why there is a gap between what (most)
people deliberately think (i.e. not wanting to make bad decisions and deliver
bad service) and what (most) people actually do (make bad decisions and deliver
bad service)?
There are many answers that would
fit this question; yet, I believe, that there is one major underlying
cause:
Most people hold erroneous
assumptions on how decisions are made and on what drives (influences) behavior (what
people do).
Without going into profound and lengthily
explanations, the core idea is that
We do not make decisions only by
using deliberate critical thinking.
Similarly, behavior is influenced
by a myriad of factors that are not our intentions and beliefs. These influencing
factors are both within and beyond our conscious awareness.
(I promised to keep it very simple. I hope I managed that).
The paragraph above summarizes in 50 words the main findings
in behavioral science.
For quite some time behavioral science
was seen as revealing flaws of human nature. Indeed, humans are not the (close
to) perfect beings that we believed. Yet, these are not design flaws; this is
how we humans are.
The main issue is not that people
are imperfect reasoning machines and behavior is not entirely under the control
of the conscious individual.
The main issue is that we believe
that we are (close) to perfect.
In other words,
The main issue is not being
imperfect;
The Main issue it’s not believing (knowing)
that we are imperfect.
Luckily, behavioral science has
studied our imperfections and now there is solid knowledge on the elements that
influence decision-making and behavior.
Here’s when Service Design comes
into the scene!
We all want to make good
decisions, to have (enjoy) good service and to simply enjoy our lives a bit
more. The best place for knowledge from Behavioral science is in Service Design.
Some early practical applications
of behavioral science were presented in the Book Nudge. These examples show how
behavioral science can help people make better decisions and act on them (e.g.
save more money for retirement).
The whole “Nudge” approach is,
essentially, about plugging in insights from behavioral science into the design
of public service.
The opportunities of improving Service Design by using
insights from Behavioral Science are abundant in both private and public
organizations.
