MINDSPACE
Nine of the strongest, mostly automatic influences on behavior, as a checklist.
What it means
MINDSPACE is a mnemonic checklist of nine robust behavioral influences intended to help policymakers apply behavioral science systematically: Messenger (we are heavily influenced by who communicates information), Incentives (responses to incentives are shaped by predictable mental shortcuts such as loss aversion), Norms (we are strongly influenced by what others do), Defaults (we tend to go with pre-set options), Salience (our attention is drawn to what is novel and relevant), Priming (our acts are shaped by subconscious cues), Affect (emotional associations powerfully shape action), Commitments (we seek to be consistent with public promises and reciprocate acts), and Ego (we behave in ways that support a positive self-image). Its mechanism is largely to organize the most evidence-backed levers — many operating through fast, automatic, System 1 processes — into a memorable audit that can be run over any policy or communication before launch. Developed for the UK government, it is a practitioner's organizing tool rather than a predictive theory, and a sensible caution is that some listed levers (notably behavioral priming) rest on contested or weaker evidence than others. It matters because it gave governments and organizations a shared, applied vocabulary for behavioral design, complementary to the later EAST framework's more streamlined four-part guide.
Examples
Before launching a campaign, a team audits each lever in turn — who delivers the message, what the default is, what stands out, what social norm is conveyed — to strengthen the design.
A clinic redesigns its appointment reminder so the text comes from the named doctor, states how many patients attend on time, and asks the patient to write the slot in themselves.
A council working on recycling runs the checklist and finds the cheapest win is not the leaflet but the default: issue the large recycling bin and the small rubbish bin as standard.
First described in Dolan et al., Institute for Government & Cabinet Office (2010).