How Colored Lights and Robotic Cats Get People to Save Energy, Professor Jaap Ham PhD Ep23

In this episode, we're chatting with Professor Jaap Ham. He's a leading cognitive scientist who researches how people respond to seeing their electricity use displayed with colored lights that glow red if you used too much electricity, or green if you are saving energy (also known as "persuasive technology" or "ambient signaling"). His research has shown that colored light is one of the most effective ways to influence people to change their behavior: red=bad, yellow=ok, green=good. Then why aren't we using colored light as a design tool to encourage more pro-environmental behavior? The evidence suggests that we should be.  Professor Ham also studies how robotic cats help people to change their energy consumption. The toy cat smiles when you use less, and frowns when you use more – evidence shows it’s a surprisingly powerful way to change behavior. Jaap Ham joined us for our first monthly Fitbit for the Planet video hangout for this episode. Sign up to join the live group calls at katiepatrick.com/fitbit. Follow Jaap Ham's research here and his LinkedIn Follow Katie Patrick Get a copy of How to Save the World on Amazon katiepatrick.com Twitter @katiepatrick Instagram @katiepatrickhello LinkedIn Contribute a monthly donation at patreon.com/katiepatrick to help me continue to make these episodes possible. Thank you to Jordan, Nader, Mike, Gary, Alex, Ben, Dee, and Ian for contributing! Xx