Behavioral insight units have become commonplace in governments around the world in recent years.  As with many things, there has been a variable degree of success in the projects undertaken to date.  Whilst some may regard this as evidence of failure and an over-hyped approach, in reality the ability to experiment and test what does and does not work is a central part of the whole ‘nudge’ approach.

It’s very much in keeping with this ethos that The Behavioral Evidence Hub (B-Hub) has been created.  The aim of the hub is to unearth innovative solutions that otherwise may stay buried in academic research.

Rather than being simply a list of papers however, the portal provides a curated collection of innovations, with each innovation describing a behavioral product or design that has proved its mettle in a real-world setting.  Each entry comes with detailed instructions about its implementation to try and make replication as easy as possible.

Bridging the gap between lab and real world

The project hopes to be a key bridge between the lab and the real world by providing practitioners with clear evidence that they can deploy in their work.

All of the innovations listed on the site take their cue from behavioral science and have been used to tackle clear problems in a particular field and/or location.  The hope is that by providing such a searchable repository it will be easier to replicate the results achieved by behavioral science around the world and have impact at scale.

Behind each innovation is a collection of one or more projects that have applied that innovation in a real-world setting, with the impact of the innovation clearly measured.  The project pages also provide clear details about the distinct problem solved, how it was solved, and advice for those wishing to follow in their footsteps.

It’s a fascinating project, and if you have an interest in how behavioral science can improve governance, I urge you to check it out.