TLDR: WATCH THE VIDEO (click above)
Imagine your monthly power bill showing not just your energy consumption, but also how it stacks up against your neighbors'. The classic Opower study did just this, and the results are a lesson in how peer comparison can spark behavior change: a 2% reduction in energy usage across 600,000 homes. It might sound small, but the implications are huge.
While most people understand the concept of ‘social proof’, implementing it successfully is an art. There are so many ways social proof can backfire. Do you have the right reference group? Is the benchmark too high? 📏
In today’s teardown, I log into my Opower to unpack how social norms impact user behavior. I explore benchmarking and goal gradients in product design, surfacing questions like:
💡 How high should you set the bar?
💡 Can high benchmarks decrease our motivation?
💡 And most importantly, how can these insights be skillfully applied to design products that change behavior for good (including lowering my energy consumption!)? 🙂
There’s also a twist: Opower is now comparing me not to other users, but to my own past usage. Can a ‘me against me’ strategy work as well as classic peer comparison?
One key takeaway: context matters in behavioral interventions. Opower's approach is nuanced. Behavior change isn’t just about the method, but also how easy or hard the actions required are. ☝️
3 themes from this teardown:
📏 How peer comparison drives user engagement
🥅 The subtle art of setting attainable goals that motivate and retain users
🪡 How to tailor strategies to different user contexts for maximum impact
I left my Opower dissection with a fresh appreciation of how subtle aspects of product design can significantly impact user behavior. I’m betting you will, too.
Back next week with another high-energy teardown! ⚡️
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Questions about your product? Email kristen@irrationallabs.com.
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