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Change Behavior by Making it Fun

October 24, 2009 – By Raymond T. Hightower | Comments Off

Volkswagen conducted an interesting behavior experiment in a Stockholm subway station. They put a functional piano keyboard on the stairs leading from the tracks to the street. Step on a step, and you hear a note on the keyboard.

The goal: To encourage passengers to choose the stairs (healthy) instead of the escalator (lazy).

The result: 66% more passengers chose the stairs.

What a fascinating way to influence behavior!

Given this information, what steps can we take to improve our own behavior? If there’s something that we need to do, something that we haven’t done yet, how can we make it more fun and get it done?