https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGQmdoK_ZfY Human Factors Engineering HFE is an inter-disciplinary field which applies knowledge of human performance capabilities and limitations to the design of the safe, efficient and robust work systems. Human Factors Engineering Man+ machine System Human Factors Engineering Socio-Cultural factors Organization Practices / culture System = Operators + Machine Man+ machine Physical User + User + Product & cognitive System Product/Service limitations Human-Human Environmental Interaction & Task constraints NUDGE: Influencing Behavior Our observable behavior falls into three categories: – in routine context, when our actions are automatic (without thinking). Rule based -- when operating according to procedures we have learned and/or in situations we expected Knowledge based -- when operating in unfamiliar situations Skill based Simplified Model of Human Information Processing Detect External Stimuli • Visual • Auditory • Tactile • Olfactory • Taste Recognize Decide Respond Feedback Feed-forward • Information seeking behavior/strategies and responses are driven by end goals Behavior Knowledge-based Improvisation in unfamiliar environment Conscious Effortful No rules for handling situation Rule- based “pre-packaged’ actions when appropriate rule is Rule Based-based applied If symptoms are Y then Problem is X If Problem is X, then do Z Skill-Based Automatic Response requiring little conscious attention (Rasmussen, 1983; Reason, 1990; Embrey, 2003) Automatic Effortless Experts and non-experts differ in the way they process information and perform tasks Airspeed Artificial Horizon Turn coordinator Heading Altitude Power Setting Vertical Speed 8 Information seeking behavior/strategies and responses are driven by end goals Instructor Pilot Trainee Pilot Instrument scan patterns of instructor and trainee pilot when performing the same flight task. 9 NUDGE: Influencing Behavior • • • • • What behavior are you trying to influence? How much do you know about the root cause of your customers’ current behavior? How do you overcome habits? To what extent are you prepared to influence your customers? Push or Nudge? What behavior are you trying to influence? What do you use to “nudge”? High Cost of Non-compliance Low Subtle Forceful NUDGE Using Physical Design to influence behavior Getting people to interact: Influencing behavior with physical infrastructure “Our building, which is Steve Jobs's brainchild, is another way we try to get people from different departments to interact. Most buildings are designed for some functional purpose, but ours is structured to maximize inadvertent encounters. At its center is a large atrium, which contains the cafeteria, meeting rooms, bathrooms, and mailboxes. As a result, everyone has strong reasons to go there repeatedly during the course of the workday. It's hard to describe just how valuable the resulting chance encounters are.” Ed Catmull co-founder & CEO of Pixar 13 Reduction of anxiety in young patients Photo © Gina Reiman http://www.coroflot.com/public/individual_file.asp?individual_id=58667&portfolio_id=965415 While in the waiting room, the child has the opportunity to interact with the "Philips Kitten Scan,“…... The kid-sized scanner was designed by Philips to provide children with an opportunity to use a scanner themselves and learn how it works to help ease their minds about their own exam. Litterati.org: Eliminating littering using social media “The Digital Landfill is a photo gallery showcasing the different pieces of litter being picked up, and the overall impact of the movement. With geo-tagging, we're able to provide insight into problem areas and highlight the most active Litterati communities. Keyword tags on the photos help identify those brands and products that generate the most litter. We'll use this to work with companies and organizations to find environmentally friendly and sustainable solutions”. http://litterati.org/cause.php http://litterati.org/cause.php Some behaviors are not so easy to change…. http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/2012/08/anti-tobacc o-ruling-in-australia-welcomed-by-un-health-agency/ What do we have to overcome here? Are people more respectful of these markings? Cultural factors … National culture …. Organization culture … Professional culture Unique professional/social “culture” exerts strong influence on the way we behave – individual efforts / team coordination – rules & regular training to reduce risks and promote safety in extreme conditions – Well-practised routines heuristics http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1350315/pla-officials-and-mediatour-us-aircraft-carrier http://www.army.mil/article/53883/ “Cockpit design and cross-cultural issues underlying failures in crew resource management” Harris, D & Li, WC Aviation, Space & Environmental Medicine 2008 May;79(5):537-8. “Cultural factors and the International Space Station” Jennifer Boyd Ritsher (2005) in Aviation, Space & Environmental Medicine; 76 (6, Suppl.):B135–44. NUDGING: Who should be involved? How is the design translated into reality? Does your organization culture facilitate the effort? How are NUDGE designs translated into reality? Sometimes “designs” have unintended outcomes Designer “invites” driver to block pedestrian pathway Pedestrians are ‘forced’ to stay on path that is blocked Handrails ‘stop’ at the point where they are most needed. 122c m 80c m Photos 1, 4 & diagram provided by courtesy of Sebastian Chua and Photos 1, 4 Lim Youxiang The tree that grew in the middle of the path ?? Do these signs solve the problem of slippery floors? NUDGING: At which point do you start? At a superficial level, one may ask “Why such bad designs?” Solution: Fix the designs But going a little deeper, one may ask “What kind of management allows/approves these designs in the first place?” Solution: ?? Yet much more deeply, one may ask, “What institutions train these managers and engineers?” Solution: ?? Nudge: Influencing Behavior Are we eliminating the symptoms or the cause? Thank You Postscript " NUDGE programmes are efforts to influence people in an non-intrusive and surreptitious way. To be effective, people working on NUDGE programmes should be familiar with how fellow humans process and respond to different stimuli (e.g., whatever is being utilized to NUDGE behavior), and why/how humans are motivated to behave the way they do. As the Gorilla video had demonstrated, people are very good at blanking out (ignoring/not processing) irrelevant stimuli. What this means is that merely presenting info front and centre before the target audience exhorting them to behave in a certain way is not sufficient. There must be something extra in the stimuli which is not only attention grabbing but must also make people want to change their unthinking behavior i.e., habits. However, this is only part of the challenge in a NUDGE programme. Making the desired behavior change a lasting one is not easy. Take NUS staff and students' tray clearing behavior in the engineering canteen and the adjacent McDonald's as an example. That NUS staff and students clear their tables in the canteen does not necessary lead to their clearing their tables in McDonald's. Can we then say that the 'table clearing' practice is imbued in us? Cultures are shared values and beliefs. Cultures shape people's behavior. People behave in ways condoned or dictated by the prevailing culture. As much as organizations want to influence the behavior of their customers, an organization's own "culture" will also influence the outcome of its NUDGE programme(s). The bad designs I highlighted in my presentation reveal the organizations' lack of familiarity with delivering customer-centric services as well as a lack of management oversight over how the various functions in the organizations work together (contrast these organizations with say, KTP Hospital or the CRM programmes in aviation and space flights). Because of the disconnects in and between the organizations, attempts at NUDGE programmes by these organizations, no matter how well conceived upstream, are unlikely to be successful as the delivery will be flawed by those responsible for the execution of the programmes. I'll end with two questions: I) who nudges the "nudger"? ii) Are we treating the symptoms or the causes? 16 Dec 2013