Designing for healthy behavior change | Behavioral science with Dr. Amy Bucher

Amy Bucher, Ph.D. is Chief Behavioral Officer at Lirio, which unites behavior science with artificial intelligence to drive healthcare behavior change. She is the author of Engaged: Designing for Behavior Change, published by Rosenfeld Media. Before joining Lirio, Amy worked as Vice President of Behavior Change Design at Mad*Pow,  a strategy and design consultancy, and on behavior change products in-house at CVS Health and Johnson & Johnson. See her website and blog here.

Amy received her A.B. from Harvard University, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in organizational psychology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She’s a frequent speaker at behavior change and UX conferences where she talks about motivation, engagement, and product design.

Her research interests include motivational design and self-determination theory, social relationships/connections and their effect on well-being and performance, happiness and resilience, and health behaviors such as medication adherence and physical fitness. Her ultimate goal is to apply the learnings of psychology to the realm of health and wellness so that people feel empowered and equipped to live their best lives. 

Topics we cover:

1. Amy’s early experiences with research & mentors
2. The decision to go to grad school
3. Knowing what you know now, do you think you’d still have chosen to do PhD?
4. What does it mean to be a behavioral scientist?
5. Do you need a PhD to do this work? What’s the added benefit?
6. Behavioral science, behavioral change design, user experience: what’s the difference?
7. Why Amy didn’t go the faculty/academia route
8. The focus of Amy’s PhD program & the intersection of psychology subfields
9. Amy’s advice for choosing a graduate program
10. Decision-making & uncertainty after grad school
11. What skills did you gain from your PhD program that have helped you in industry?
12. Self-determination theory
13. Does it matter what you do your PhD in to get into behavioral science?
14. Advice on starting in this field and figuring out if a PhD is needed for the work you want to do
15. Amy’s book, Engaged, and its unique contribution to the field
16. What has your work in behavioral science and healthcare looked like since your PhD?
17. What kinds of qualities mesh really well with behavior change design?
18. Being the Chief Behavioral Officer at Lirio
19. What is one skill, quality, or general factor that has served you no matter where you went in life?

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Music by: Adam Fine