Engineering Feedback Loops - Part 1

Feedback loops are powerful tools that can help people change bad behavior.  Just as important, they can encourage good habits, turning progress itself into a reward.  From sustainability issues, to energy conservation, to climate change - - the ability of engineers to insert feedback loops into our global civilization will be increasingly important.

The basic premise is simple.  Provide people with information about their actions in real time (or something close to it), then give them an opportunity to change those actions, pushing them toward better behaviors.  It is a process engineers have a history with - - action, information, reaction.  Simple but powerful.  And thanks to an explosion of new technology, the opportunity to put them into action in nearly every part of our lives is quickly becoming a reality.

Consider the modified traffic sign - - one that has a profound impact on driver's behavior.  It basically breaks down into four steps:

1. Evidence - the radar-equipped sign flashes a car's current speed.  First comes the data - - quantifying a behavior and presenting that data back to the individual so they know where they stand.  After all, you can't change what you don't measure.
2. Relevance - the sign also displays the legal speed limit - most people don't want to be seen as bad drivers.  Data is just digits unless it hit home.  Through information design, social context, or some other proxy for meaning, the right incentive will transform rational information into an emotional imperative.
3. Consequence - people are reminded of the downside of speeding, including traffic tickets and the risk of accidents.  Even compelling information is useless unless it ties into some larger goal or purpose.  People must have a sense of what to do with the information and any opportunities they will have to act on it.
4. Action - drivers slow an average of 10 percent - usually for several miles.  The individual has to engage with all of the above and act - - thus closing the loop and allowing that new action to be measured.