Alright, so today I wanna chat about something kinda fundamental – the four goals of scientific research on behavior. I’ve been wrestling with this stuff in my own little projects, and thought I’d share how I’ve been trying to wrap my head around it.
First off, describing behavior. This sounds super basic, right? But it’s actually where everything starts. I remember early on, I was trying to understand why some users were dropping off my app after the first use. So, I started just logging everything – what buttons they clicked, how long they spent on each screen, where they were tapping. Just raw data, tons of it. No assumptions, just watching and noting. It felt like I was just scribbling down observations, but it was the first step. This stage is all about painting a picture of what’s actually happening.
Next up, explaining that behavior. Okay, so I had all this data on user drop-off. People were bouncing after the signup screen. But why? I started digging into the signup flow, looking for bottlenecks. I A/B tested different form layouts, different wording, different images. I even did some user interviews, asking people directly what they found confusing or off-putting. It turned out, the privacy policy was scaring people away – it was way too long and full of legal jargon. Once I simplified that, the drop-off rate plummeted. So the goal here is about figuring out the “why” behind the “what”.
Then comes predicting. Once you’ve got a handle on the explanation, you should be able to anticipate what’s going to happen next. With the privacy policy thing sorted, I could now predict that if I made the policy more complicated again, drop-off rates would likely climb back up. Prediction isn’t about having a crystal ball; it’s about using the knowledge you’ve gained to anticipate future outcomes. I started building models to forecast user behavior based on different changes I might make to the app. It’s not always perfect, but it gives you a leg up.
Finally, there’s controlling or modifying behavior. This is where you actually use your understanding to make a change. I used the insights to tweak the signup process to get better conversions. This could mean changing the design of the app, modifying the notifications or changing incentives. You’re actively trying to shape behavior in a desired direction. It’s like saying, “Okay, I know why this is happening, and now I’m going to actively change it.”
It’s important to realize that these four goals aren’t always separate or linear. They kinda bleed into each other. You might be trying to explain something and stumble upon a way to control it. Or you might predict something, only to find out your explanation was off. But it is helpful to view these as steps for my research.
