What we do

We help organisations understand the behaviour of their users, customers or employees, and improve their products, services and campaigns.

How we do it

We do this by combining insights and methods from behavioural science, design and data science. We draw on the latest evidence from across these fields, and then focus on their practical application to develop and test new ideas that work in practice.

All our work is done collaboratively, in partnership with the organisations we work with. This is why we call our clients our ‘partners’. Our partners are large corporations, scaling technology firms, charities, universities and government departments. We developed the Behaviour Change Playbook to solve their business and social challenges using four steps:

Goal

Define target behaviours.

First we reframe the challenge from a behavioural perspective and define the target behaviours.

How we do it

Behavioural Academy
Behavioural Mapping
Evidence Reviews

Getting Citizens More Involved in Policy Making

Read case study

How we do it

Behavioural Academy
Behavioural Mapping
Evidence Reviews

Getting Citizens More Involved in Policy Making

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) wanted to find new and better ways of understanding the viewpoints of large numbers of people. UNDP was especially interested in gauging the views of younger people in Pakistan, Bhutan and Timor Leste on critical policy questions, such as what they thought their governments should be doing to tackle climate change. So they asked CogCo to help them develop a new and more engaging way of getting people involved in these policy discussions.

Insight

Uncover barriers and drivers.

Next we uncover the key barriers and drivers to the behaviours defined in the goal step.

How we do it

Diagnostic Surveys
Interviews
Ekota(TM) Conversations

Understanding the barriers to seeking out debt advice

Read case study

How we do it

Diagnostic Surveys
Interviews
Ekota(TM) Conversations

Understanding the barriers to seeking out debt advice

In 2022, the Money & Pensions Service (MaPS) found that as many as 9.3 million adults across the UK were showing strong indications of needing debt advice. This is an increase of 800,000 compared to 2021, and doesn’t take account of more recent energy bill rises. Amongst other things, this group will be facing serious consequences for not being able to pay a priority bill - such as their rent or energy bill.

Solution

Develop ideas and propositions.

Then we develop propositions that address the barriers and drivers identified in the Insight step.

How we do it

Ideation Workshops
Prototyping
User Testing

How digital design changes customer decisions

Read case study

How we do it

Ideation Workshops
Prototyping
User Testing

How digital design changes customer decisions

Online shopping offers customers a smooth, simple way of making a purchase. But Citizens Advice, the charity that offers confidential financial advice to millions of people every year, is concerned that some firms are designing online platforms in ways that act against the interests of customers. Citizens Advice therefore commissioned CogCo, working with Paul Adams, to devise an experiment that tested what the effect of different aspects of digital design had upon the choices and comprehension of customers. They were especially interested in the effect of different digital designs upon consumers’ decisions to choose to pay using ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ products. These products enable customers to delay payments into the future and now account for 6% of all online purchases in the UK.

Test

Understand what works.

Finally we test the propositions developed in the Solution step to understand what works

How we do it

Choice Experiments
Prototype Experiments
Simulation Experiments

Understanding which elements of a phone package customers value most

Understand behaviours

Read case study

How we do it

Choice Experiments
Prototype Experiments
Simulation Experiments

Understanding which elements of a phone package customers value most

Mobile phone operators have a wide variety of services and products that they can offer to their customers. They can provide more data; better coverage; shorter contract terms; and even free gifts, like a 6 month subscription to Netflix. But each of these elements comes at a cost, so it is useful to know exactly what value customers place on the different component parts of a contract. This might not be a problem, if customers were able to articulate clearly their preferences. But it turns out that we find it very difficult to do so accurately: it is challenging, for example, for any of us to come up with a figure when asked how much you might be willing to pay for a shorter contract.

Understand behaviours

Understanding the barriers to seeking out debt advice

In 2022, the Money & Pensions Service (MaPS) found that as many as 9.3 million adults across the UK were showing strong indications of needing debt advice. This is an increase of 800,000 compared to 2021, and doesn’t take account of more recent energy bill rises. Amongst other things, this group will be facing serious consequences for not being able to pay a priority bill - such as their rent or energy bill.

Understanding which elements of a phone package customers value most

Mobile phone operators have a wide variety of services and products that they can offer to their customers. They can provide more data; better coverage; shorter contract terms; and even free gifts, like a 6 month subscription to Netflix. But each of these elements comes at a cost, so it is useful to know exactly what value customers place on the different component parts of a contract. This might not be a problem, if customers were able to articulate clearly their preferences. But it turns out that we find it very difficult to do so accurately: it is challenging, for example, for any of us to come up with a figure when asked how much you might be willing to pay for a shorter contract.

Understand behaviours

Researching people's experience of harmful video content

In recent years, concerns have grown about people - especially young people - encountering harmful content while using online video sharing platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and Twitch. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport wanted to get a better understanding of the potential harms encountered by young people through the development of more rigorous methods for understanding their experiences. We took on this challenge as part of a wider programme of work with Oliver Wyman, the global management consulting firm.

Understand behaviours