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Home » Methods » Nudging

Nudging

Declining cooperative engagement
Min. 3-5 Project managers or partners or citizens
medium
1 hour
  • Digital whiteboard: Miro or Mural OR shared document (e.g., MS Teams)
  • Video conferencing: Zoom, Microsoft Teams etc.

Explanation of the method

  1. Consider a focused question for which you want to develop nudges, e.g.: How do you get people to eat healthy?
  2. Explain the different characteristics of nudges:
    • A nudge is simple and inexpensive.
    • A nudge increases personal well-being.
    • A nudge does not limit a person's choices.
  3. Now let your creativity run free and think together: What could be possible nudges, i.e., small "nudges" with which you can positively support the desired behavior? When designing the nudges, make sure that they meet all the criteria (simple and inexpensive to implement, do not influence decision-making options, and increase personal well-being) and pin the suggestions to a bulletin board or fill out the template provided. Examples of nudges include green footprints leading to the trash can or, to decline organ donation an extra form would need to be filled out.
  4. The nudges are discussed in the group. All participants take a final vote on which nudges are considered most useful.
  5. Test whether the selected nudges work in your project, change them if necessary or modify them until you feel that they motivate the (potential) project participants in the best possible way.

Advantages

  • Nudges cost nothing to little, are easy to implement, and often have a big impact.
  • Nudges can simply encourage people to behave in a certain way without restricting their choices or putting pressure on them.
  • Generating nudges takes little time

Disadvantages

  • Different groups of people react differently to nudges. Therefore, no general, but only group-specific statements can be made about a certain type of nudges.
  • Nudges have to be tested again in every contextual situation, since there are few empirical values so far.
  • If the nudges are too subtle, they may not be noticed at all.

Advice from practice

  • Try to collect as many different nudges as possible in order to have a good selection.
  • Different types of nudges can be combined. See which ones work best for your project.
  • Test different types of nudges to see which are most successful.
  • Make sure that the nudges are placed neither too subtly nor too conspicuously. Otherwise, they may not be perceived at all or they may be perceived as unserious.
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