Behavior
What we do
Design + The Brain · LEARN
Design ultimately aims at behavior: a click, a purchase, a donation, a habit. BJ Fogg's behavior model holds that behavior happens when motivation, ability, and a prompt converge at the same moment — which means a designer's job is often less about persuading and more about making the desired action easy and well-timed.
Choice architecture shows how powerfully presentation steers decisions: defaults, ordering, and framing change outcomes without changing options. Thaler and Sunstein's Nudge brought this into public view, and its lessons apply to every form, checkout flow, and settings screen.
With that power comes responsibility. The same techniques that help people complete a task can be twisted into dark patterns that trick them. Designing behavior ethically means making the honest path the easy path.
The sources
Fogg — Behavior Model
Visit site ↗BJ Fogg's model: behavior = motivation × ability × prompt, and what it means for designing actions people actually take.
Thaler & Sunstein — Nudge
Visit site ↗The book that popularized choice architecture — how defaults and framing quietly steer decisions.
Dark patterns — Deceptive Patterns
Visit site ↗Harry Brignull's catalogue of manipulative design tactics, the ethical counterweight every behavior designer should know.