Behavioural Insights (BI) Practitioners-in-training in UBC’s Advanced Professional Certificate in Behavioural Insights complete a capstone project to apply their developing BI knowledge and skills to real-world problems. Our inaugural cohort of BI Practitioners worked in teams to complete an amazing eight randomized controlled trials tackling challenges including:
Illegal dumping
Returning to work after injury
Encouraging employees to improve documentation
Reducing bias in performance evaluations
Increasing interest in home-sharing
Illegal parking
Hearing attendance
Encouraging social workers to collaborate with families
UBC’s Decision Insights for Business & Society (UBC-DIBS) is extremely proud to share snapshots of three of these capstone projects. Visit the BI wiki for the full working papers and for additional, forthcoming projects.
See the Sign, Avoid the Fine:
TSZ Parking Signs in Vancouver
Parinda Chagani, Eva Lai, & Carl Jensen
(Advisor: David Hardisty)
This project aimed to improve compliance with temporary parking restrictions in the City of Vancouver. New “Behavioural Insights informed” parking signs incorporated salience and loss aversion. Control and BI-informed signs were compared in a randomized controlled trial. The BI-informed signs reduced parking violations by 57%. Although this difference was not statistically significant, it may be managerially significant. The project team recommended extending the trial to collect more data, trialing BI-informed signs for other types of parking zones, and conducting a cost-benefit analysis to inform scaling decisions.
Comparison of the control (left) and BI-informed (right) temporary parking zone signs used to discouraging illegal parking
Check Your Inbox:
Evaluating the Impact of Email Reminders
on Hearing Attendance
Alexis Gordon, Emily Medd, & Lindsay Miles-Pickup
(Advisor: Kirstin Appelt)
This project aimed to increase attendance at tenancy dispute hearings managed by the BC Residential Tenancy Branch. New “Behavioural Insights informed” pre-hearing notification emails incorporated salient information, consequences of inaction, and actionable next steps. Due to feasibility constraints, control and BI-informed emails were compared in a quasi-experimental trial. Although the BI-informed emails did not significantly increase hearing attendance, the project team identified several useful insights, including the impact of cultural holidays, missing email addresses, and other barriers.
Comparison of the control (left) and BI-informed (right) pre-hearing notification emails used to encourage hearing attendance
Increasing the Completion of Family Plans
in Collaboration with Families
Erin Crowley, Caroline Grenier, & Kelsie Wright
(Advisor: Dale Griffin)
This project aimed to encourage Child Protection Social Workers to complete Family Plans in collaboration with families. A new “Behavioural Insights informed” worksheet incorporated implementation intentions and a BI-informed form used simplification. These interventions were compared to the current Family Plan form in a randomized controlled trial using a 2×2 factorial design. Although the BI-informed worksheet and form did not significantly improve Family Plan completion, data sources yielded conflicting conclusions and not all participants received the intervention materials. Despite these limitations, the project team demonstrated the feasibility and value of using BI and evidence-based decision-making to improve service delivery and outcomes for families.
Comparison of the BI-informed worksheet (left) and BI-informed form (right) used to encourage collaborative completion of Family Plans