The way people can be influenced to change their behaviour has developed a lot over the past ten years. BJ Fogg undertook his doctoral research into how people are influenced via technology in all sorts of ways - choice of purchases, engagement of new customers, impact on attitude and behaviour, etc.

Persuasive technology is now all around us - in the form of websites, smart phones, apps, social media, etc. What's more, BJ says, the results are predictable and measurable.

Examples of persuasive technology

Some everyday examples of how technology influences our behaviour are:

• The fuel guage of the Toyota Prius tells the driver how their driving impacts petrol consumption, which creates a feedback loop as to how they drive
• Social media sites such as Facebook have created systems driven by software code that consistently influence people to login and share personal information
• Many health professionals such as dentists use timed SMS reminders to reduce missed appointments

What works and what doesn't

The first critical step in designing for persuasion is to select an appropriate target behaviour. This needs careful thought and is usually the simplest essential first step (e.g. in the case of Facebook or Coaching on Call it's to log in to the site). Focusing on a simple initial action is much more feasible and successful than aiming for ambitious long-term goals.

What prevents people adopting the changed behaviour

Research indicates that when people resist a specific behaviour change, it is always down to one of three reasons:

1. lack of motivation
2. lack of ability
3. lack of an appropriate and well-timed trigger for the behaviour in question

In other words, when people have sufficient motivation, know what to do and have a timely reminder to do it, they will usually change.

So any solution designed to change behaviours must orchestrate all three elements - Motivation, Ability, Trigger - coming together at one moment. The common mistake is to focus solely on motivation, while the path to success is often about increasing ability and triggering the behaviour.

Quick and nimble succeeds best

As well as attending to the three key variables outlined above, the key to success is starting small and fast - then iterating, having the courage to try out many options until you get measurable success. Innovation today has a new rhythm, launching early and iterating quickly.

What's missing now is not the technology. So what is it?

The technology is now relatively accessible and inexpensive to launch services that change people's behaviour.

But what's largely missing is the ability to think clearly about behaviour goals and the mindset of starting small and growing what works. The prize, says BJ Fogg, will go to those who can think clearly about behaviour change and iterate the fastest.

"Human behaviour flows from three main sources: desire, emotion and knowledge."