To Achieve Goals, Focus on Behavior

The holiday season is upon us, whether you’re ready for it or not. Many people overeat in the holiday season (all those leftover treats at home, cookies in the office, how could you resist?!) And — no surprise — it...

When Digital Health Research Meets the Real World

You just finished presenting the results of your research project at the annual conference for your field. Your novel digital health intervention demonstrated a meaningful and robust impact on outcomes. This is a big moment; you’ve worked hard to get...

Decrease Friction and Add Fuel for Health Behavior Change

Human behavior is anything but simple, and for that exact reason I believe that oversimplifications can be useful in the first step of designing for behavior change. When it comes down to it, there’s a lot of human behavior that...

Make Plans, Not Resolutions

Your new year’s resolution is very likely to fail. Most do. Resolutions are just not built to succeed. They rely on willpower, hoping and wishing (which last about a week, a month if you're lucky). New year’s resolutions are like...

A How-To Guide For Setting Better Goals

We often hold vague notions about what we want to do for our health. You might say you want to exercise more, eat healthier, or stick to the doctor’s orders. But it’s not often that we transform those fuzzy desires...

Implementing Our Best Intentions

“If I am parking, then I will park in the spot farthest from my destination.” “If I wake up tomorrow morning, then I will put on my shoes and go on a 20 minute run.” “If I am feeling tempted...