From children\u2019s health in Rwanda to unsustainable farming practices in Iowa, Jessica Li \u201915 applies behavioral science to real-world challenges. \u201cBehavioral science is all about understanding the context,\u201d she says. \u201cHow do people\u2019s environments or the design of a social program interact with their minds and their perceptions? How does that affect how they interact with a program?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After earning her master\u2019s in public policy analysis at the University of California, Berkeley \u2014 and a stint at The People Lab, where she honed her behavioral science skills \u2014 Li joined the nonprofit design and consulting firm ideas42. The organization works across many areas, including postsecondary education, global and domestic health, and safety and justice, in partnership with both public and private sector clients. Li is a senior behavioral designer on the firm\u2019s Global Development team. \u201cEach team applies behavioral science, but often in very different ways,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every project starts with generating evidence-based design to address an existing problem. \u201cMethodology is important,\u201d Li says. \u201cWe first identify the behavioral problem, which often looks like people acting against their best interests, or having intentions to do something but struggling to follow through.\u201d Then the team spends time interviewing people, collecting qualitative data, and creating hypotheses. \u201cWe target behavioral barriers that we believe exist and develop a series of hypotheses for how these barriers impact behavior.\u201d After analyzing the data, they take it a step further \u2014 designing and presenting a new intervention. \u201cWe want to deliver value and be agile with our designs, and we seek to develop ones that are feasible and implementable at scale.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n“We target behavioral barriers that we believe exist and develop a series of hypotheses for how these barriers impact behavior.”<\/p>\n
Jessica Li \u201915<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nRight now, Li is currently focusing on two projects that illustrate the wide reach of the organization\u2019s impact. The first one is an effort to help the Rwandan government improve a program that fights stunting, a lack of growth caused by chronic malnutrition, by providing families with funds to purchase food. \u201cThey have a cash transfer program and wanted to see better results. To that end, we explored questions such as, \u2018What are the contextual features that might prevent people from using this cash in the way the government \u2014 or even the constituents \u2014 want?\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other project Li is working on focuses on encouraging farmers in Iowa to embrace more sustainable agricultural practices. While she and her team mostly meet with clients remotely, Li makes periodic site visits to understand the context and observe tests of new approaches. For Li, a typical day could include interviewing farmers in Iowa to understand the behavioral barriers to adopting a cash-subsidized sustainable agricultural practice \u2014 or analyzing qualitative and quantitative data to inform the design of a new social program or campaign. \u201cThis job is very applied,\u201d she says. \u201cWe spend a lot of time working directly with clients, going through the stages to generate a design that will address the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prior to ideas42, Li\u2019s career included a stint in local government and a fellowship with Princeton in Africa at a public health nonprofit in Zambia. There, she trained teachers in basic triage skills and coordinated with clinics to ensure school children received prompt health care. \u201cOur goal was to make the system run more smoothly for people who need to access it,\u201d Li explains. \u201cIt would help kids miss school less and be more engaged while they were there, helping to improve their education outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ultimately, Li hopes her work will make a positive difference in people\u2019s lives. \u201cBehavioral science is a powerful tool for social or policy change.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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