innovator :: social scientist :: teacher
bjfogg@stanford.edu
Like many people, I get tons of email. Ugh. I'll try to respond to yours . . .
phone: (707) 479-4552
I usually don't answer calls from unrecognized phone numbers. If you want an appointment, click the tab above that says "Book time w/ me"-- or the orange button below. I'm happy to talk.
P.O. Box 20456
Stanford, CA 94309
Here's my latest on Twitter:
My expertise is creating systems to change human behavior. I call this “Behavior Design.”
I devote about 50% of my time to Stanford and 50% to industry innovation. For me, working in both worlds makes sense: My Stanford work makes me better in industry. And what I learn in industry improves my Stanford research. I’m always happy to help other innovators. (See how to book time with me)
- To see an overview of my approach, see the Fogg Method.
- To experience how behavior change works, join a Tiny Habits™ session. It’s simple, powerful, and free.
- To learn my methods in behavior design, attend my two-day Boot Camp.
At my Stanford lab, the Persuasive Technology Lab, we focus on methods for creating habits, showing what causes behavior, automating behavior change, and persuading people via mobile phones. Over the years, improving health has become a theme. This includes my work in directing a series of conferences at Stanford on Mobile Health. Our last Stanford event was "Design for Dance."
I use what I learn at Stanford to achieve outcomes in the real world. And I use my experience from the real world to focus our research questions at Stanford.
Some people think all my work is online or in books. Unfortunately, that's not true. Most of the methods I teach today are not online or in books -- at least not yet. That's not by design. It's hard to innovate, teach, and then document it all at once. As a result, I've chosen innovation and teaching as my priorities for now.
(Quick note: Pause the video below so you can read this page. Sorry about the autostart.)
(I teach at Stanford part time. The video overlay implies I’m a full-time professor. Not so.)Fortune Magazine listed me as one of “10 New Gurus You Should Know.” I’m sure many people deserve guru status more than I do, but I appreciate the nod. So thanks, Fortune.
You can see my innovation page for specific topics of expertise. I like to speak and teach on these topics. Not long ago, I launched my Behavior Design Boot Camps, two-day events at my guest home, hidden away on a river in Northern California. If you want to apply for one of the camps in 2013, email me.
To see the foundation of my work, dating back about 15 years ago, check out my book: Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do. Since then, my Stanford work has focused a lot on how mobile phones can be platforms for changing behavior. In 2002, I predicted mobile phones would become the #1 platform for persuasion. I believe that prediction was right on target.
But technology itself doesn't magically change behavior. People creating products need to understand how human behavior works. Teaching people the psychology of behavior change is core to my work these days. For example, the video below explains an important concept I call the "Motivation Wave."
At Stanford I never teach the same class twice. One year, I taught how to use online video to persuade people. Another year, my class focused on how social media can promote world peace. And in yet another year, my class was about Facebook apps, and our students persuaded more than 16 million people to install the apps they created. (See the New York Times article.) In 2013 I’ll teach a new class about designing products to get people dancing (seriously!). As always, I teach students how to create tech systems that change behavior. (For example, Instagram has influenced the behavior of over 30 million people. The co-founder was a student of mine.)
The other pages here explain more about my work. I should warn you: Not everything here is up to date. I do this website myself, and the demands on my time have gotten intense. On top of that, I’m trying to take some vacation (which is tough, because I like working). In any case, you’ll also learn more about my work by viewing this (somewhat outdated) list of resources.