Lesson on behavioural design

Introduce the design expert on ‘gamification’ and the activity.

Theory - Presentation about influencing strategies; how to design for (behavioural) change (see Nudging Presentation in resources)

• What is littering and why do people litter (whether this is intentional or unintentional).  When waste is held in the hand it is just an object, but when it hits the ground it's classed as rubbish and ‘dirty’. Why does waste become waste?
• Inspiration from nearby environment/surroundings - mini-trip throughout the school – where are the litter bins located? And what do they look like? Bins can be ugly objects and no-one actually likes to look at them, therefore they are mostly designed to blend into the scenery and are often ‘hidden’.
• The role as a designer is to think about how a space can influence people and the emotions that the space should convey when trying to change behaviour. What emotion must be created or addressed to encourage people to act or not act in a particular way?
• Introduce influencing strategies; punishment (negative), gamification (making it fun), nudging (making it easier) and the explanation of the terms.
• Discussion based on given examples of influencing (How does it work? How are students influenced? Positive or negative? Is it notable or discrete? Which emotion does it evoke? Is it successful? Is the designer allowed to influence people this way? Determine the strategies that belong to the examples by making use of the canvas (see Nudging Canvas in resources).
• Optional: Draw the canvas on the classroom floor with paper tape to make the presentation/discussion more interactive. Show examples that allow students to stand on the canvas and move to the square they think fits the example. An alternative may be to allow students to use small bean bags that can be thrown onto the canvas rather than standing on it.
• Once students have been presented with an adequate number of examples, create an overview from all of the examples and place them onto the digital canvas.
• Gather information via a mini-trip in and around the school. Students look at the problems in their own area.
  • The general public: what is the problem? Why is there litter? Is it difficult to dispose of it properly? If so, why?
• Litter: what is the problem? Are there enough litter bins? Are they emptied often enough? Are they well placed? Are they well designed?
• Canteen and around the school: look around and think together about the questions. Think about what kind of solution would fit the problem. Ask the students what they would like to design.

Presenting the challenge: Design a waste collecting system that is fun to use and effective - students will design and build their own waste-collection solution that will be tested in the school cafeteria. How will they persuade their fellow students to dispose of litter in the correct manner?  The outcome of the research and the test will be presented to an audience.

At the end of the lesson, the students will make a choice to identify the strategy they want to work with. This determines how the groups are divided from the design stage (Learning Unit 7).