Introduction: Designing for behavioural change

Design impacts every part of our lives. The design of products and services we encounter in all areas and walks of life influences the way we go about our daily activities. It is hard to imagine any activity of our daily lives that is not dependent on a designed artefact in some capacity. Our clothing, mobile phones, computers, cars, tools and kitchenware all enable and hold in place our everyday practices. Design impacts our built and natural environment through urban planning and architecture, and it impacts our health and safety by promoting or restricting activities that may or may not be healthy, or cause harm. Cooper et al. (2011) explain that in the past 100 years, ‘we have designed systems of transport, work, and entertainment that mean we are less active’ (p. 135) and which can be counter productive to our health where they lead to a lack of exercise. Simultaneously designers have improved the diagnostic and treatment devices for the non-communicable diseases affected by this lack of exercise (Cooper et al., 2011). Design can furthermore shape our views and expectations of how we should behave in our world through its implicit values. For instance, designs of the mobile phone and web 2.0 platforms have changed the way we interact and plan for work and leisure, as well as shifting the expectations for when and where we are available.