Welcome to the Design Thinking 101 podcast! I’m Dawan Stanford, your host. Today I’m interviewing Dustin DiTommaso. Dustin is a designer and researcher who works to integrate the study and application of behavioral science and human-centered design to develop digital interventions that change real-world behaviors. In 2009, he founded the Behavior Change Design practice at Mad*Pow, where he and his team have designed effective interventions for improving health, financial well-being, and life-long learning.
When he’s not working on client challenges and creating new real-world interventions, Dustin teaches “Design for Behavior Change and Social Impact” at the Rhode Island School of Design. He also collaborates on grant work with colleagues from University College London’s Centre for Behaviour Change and other academic affiliations.
Today, we travel down the path that Dustin took to get to where he is today. From his work at Botticelli Interactive, through the advertising world, and then back home to design, Dustin chats about his need to impact society in a meaningful way, and why behavior change design has resonated the most with him.
Dustin shares information on how he and his team approach their design projects and the methods they use to quantify and qualify third-party research. He also delves into their use of the COM-B model in creating, applying, and implementing their designs. They even use this framework when explaining the product to their clients!
Dustin shares several fantastic resources that he has written and used to inspire his design mind. He also provides some insights on how gamification in behavioral design has been used inappropriately and how it could be better.
