BJ Fogg

Brian J. "B.J." Fogg is a behavioral psychologist and author. He is the founder and director of the Stanford Behavior Design Lab, formerly called the Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab.

Fogg was the first scientist to articulate the concept of "captology," or the study of how computers can persuade people. His 2003 book, "Persuasive Technology" lays the foundation for captology. In 2005, he renamed the concept to "Behavior Design," which comprises a set of models for understanding how human behavior works, as well as a set of methods he has created to help innovators create successful products. His work has been acknowledged by Stanford University with the Maccoby Prize for his profound contributions to the field.

As a doctoral student at Stanford University, Fogg used methods from experimental psychology to demonstrate that computers can change people's thoughts and behaviors in predictable ways. He has been a researcher and faculty at Stanford for over two decades, where he also teaches special courses each year on models and methods developed through his research.

In 1998, Fogg founded the Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab, now called the Stanford Behavior Design Lab. He directed the Stanford Web Credibility Project, which published "How Do People Evaluate a Web Site's Credibility?" in 2002. The lab received a grant from the National Science Foundation in 2005 to support experimental work investigating how mobile phones can motivate and persuade people, an area the lab calls "mobile persuasion." Additionally, Fogg founded and directs the annual Mobile Health conference at Stanford, focusing on health behavior change.

In 2009, Fogg published the Fogg Behavior Model (FBM), a model for analyzing and designing human behavior. The FBM describes three conditions needed for a behavior to occur: 1) motivation, 2) ability, and 3) a prompt. Motivation can be influenced by factors like pleasure/pain, hope/fear, and social acceptance/rejection. Ability can be impacted by time, money, physical effort, brain cycles, social deviance, and non-routine. Prompts are also referred to as triggers.

In December 2011, Fogg created a new way to develop permanent habits from baby steps, which he calls "Tiny Habits." In 2019, he released a book by the same name, "Tiny Habits: The Small Changes that Change Everything," which outlines the method and became a New York Times Bestseller. Fogg continues to expand his research interests, including the psychology of Facebook and the design impacts on consumer behavior, and collaborates with major companies like eBay and Nike to enhance their technological and service platforms.