Networked hubs Summary

Video

Watch presentation at StreamETH

The presenters propose using hotels and resorts as “living labs” to test interventions from behavioral science aimed at promoting human flourishing through habit formation and environmental design.
They argue that while we have scientific insights into drivers of well-being, there is a lack of practical applications translating this into people’s daily lives and behaviors. Hotels provide an opportunity to design spaces that “sneakily” cue good habits and run experiments testing interventions.
Specific examples are given such as games to build connections, environmental cues to prompt desired behaviors, and measuring the impact through data collection and guest surveys.
The presenters run a resort in Thailand and intend to implement some of these ideas, while acknowledging the challenges in measuring impact and creating lasting behavior change from interventions.
Overall, they see hotels as unique controlled environments to better understand human flourishing through combining technology, environmental design, data collection, and insights from behavioral science.

Using hotels/resorts as “living labs” to test behavioral interventions and collect data on human flourishing is a novel idea proposed.
Designing physical spaces to subtly cue desired habits/behaviors through environmental psychology principles.
Combining technology, data collection, environmental design, and behavioral science insights to understand drivers of human well-being.
Implementing “sneaky” interventions that operate on a subconscious level may be more effective than conscious efforts for lasting habit change.
Measuring impact and running rigorous experiments on behavioral interventions remains a key challenge to overcome.
The presenters intend to pilot some of these concepts at their resort, providing an opportunity for real-world implementation and refinement of the ideas.

Ting - Behavioral scientist, demonstrated expertise in applying behavioral science to product design for habit formation and well-being.
Adam - Ting’s co-presenter, expertise unclear but involved in proposing and testing the “living lab” hotel concept.