It is a well known fact that increased visibility or awareness of a phenomenon leads to behavior change. While you may consider this common sense there is real theory and research behind this as I learned when I took (and then helped teach) BJ Fogg‘s course in Persuasive Technology. Taemie Kim and I used this principle in our work on the Dynamic Speedometer. In that case, we hypothesized, and then showed that even an ambient awareness of the current speed limit can result in a change in driver behavior. We did this by showing the current speed limit as a visualization on the speedometer. Our studies showed that drivers drove closer to the speed limit more often when they were more aware of the the speed limit.

BJ’s class and and the principles of designing technology with the intent to change human behavior (for good) is a topic that I think about often. As a hobbyist of observing human behavior, I am fascinated by ways in which people get manipulated — sometimes consciously and sometimes sub-consciously. This happens everyday with marketing and advertising and is one of the reasons I hate being “marketed to” or “sold to” since then I know I am being manipulated. However, when this works to manipulate us in a positive direction, it can be a very compelling approach.

Yesterday, while I was in San Francisco to attend The Crunchies, a friend and I happened to walk into a Chevy’s restaurant on Van Ness Ave (an impulse decision and definitely not a pre-meditated one!). My colleague and I both noticed that their menu’s had nutritional information (calories, fat, carbs, and sodium) for every item on the menu directly below it. We were both shocked to see how most of the items on the menu also happened to be 1500 calories or over. So in one meal, you’re getting close to the entire days worth of calories! (I also noticed the limited number of options for vegetarians, unusual for most California restaurants, but then Chevy’s is a chain).

Turns out that the City of San Francisco, in its usual leading edge wisdom has required chain restaurants to post nutrition information on their menu’s:

“The law requires nutrition information – including calories, fat, carbohydrates and sodium – to be posted on menus or, for restaurants that do not have menus, on prominently displayed posters. Restaurants with menu boards would be required to list the calories per item on the board; other nutrition information could be listed on the posters.”

(Source: S.F. supes require posting of nutrition info)

Likewise, the State of California has also enacted a similar law to go into effect statewide:

“SB 1420 requires restaurant chains with 20 or more locations to post calorie information on their menus and indoor menu boards by January 1, 2011. And beginning July 1, 2009, brochures containing either calorie content information or other nutritional information, such as grams of saturated fat, grams of carbohydrates and milligrams of sodium, will be at the point of sale and drive-thrus for consumers.”

(Source: Gov. Schwarzenegger Signs Legislation Promoting Nutrition and Healthier Options)

This is a brilliant move by San Francisco and California. It really needs to be adopted all across the US. Portion sizes in the US are ridiculously large. I think that this change will have an impact on at least some fraction of the people — those who may be well-intentioned about controlling their diet, but just have a hard time doing it (like me). It is an example of increased visibility and awareness being used to encourage behavior change.

One of my favorite books on the topic of eating behavior is Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think — it is a fascinating book about how and why we are not good at controlling how much we eat. The experiments in the book are eye opening, but even though I can read and rationalize them, changing behavior is inherently hard to do. I’m glad to see these laws that are designed to encourage positive behavior change — not with a stick, but with awareness and information.

And you had to read this whole post just because I ordered a salad!