Behavioural Economics · Nudges
Design a nudge and measure its effect
Change one small thing, such as a sign or the placement of a bin, and measure whether behaviour changes.
- DifficultyIntermediate
- Estimated time2–4 weeks
- BudgetUnder ₹250
- ClassClass 11 to college
- Team2–4 people
- You needNo equipment
Prerequisites: None beyond your class work
Original · by TechnifyedExperimentSocial Impact ProjectLow costNo equipmentWell documented
Overview
Change one small thing, such as a sign or the placement of a bin, and measure whether behaviour changes.
Why build this?
It is a real field experiment with a result your school can use.
What you will learn
- How to measure a baseline
- How a nudge differs from a rule
- Why you need a comparison
Skills you will use
Safety and ethics
- This project involves people. Explain what you are doing and get their consent (a parent's or teacher's for children), let anyone stop at any time, collect only what you need, and remove names before you share results.
Materials and tools
- Permission from the school
- A countable behaviour
- Poster or simple materials
Tools and software
Step-by-step roadmap
Start
You will finish with: a before, during and after chart with a conclusion.
- 1
Prerequisites
Nothing special to know first. Then collect the 3 items in the materials list.
- 2
Learn
- How to measure a baseline
- How a nudge differs from a rule
- Why you need a comparison
- 3
Plan
Write your question, your hypothesis and the one thing you will change. Draw the table you will fill in before you start.
- 4
Build
- Choose a behaviour you can count, such as lights left on or litter.
- Measure it for a week.
- Introduce one small change.
- Measure for another week.
- Remove the change and measure again.
- 5
Test
Repeat every reading at least three times and check the result against what the science predicts.
- 6
Document
Record every reading with its unit, photograph the setup and draw a graph of the result. Report structure
- 7
Present
Explain the question, the method and the graph in two minutes; keep the setup ready to demonstrate. Presentation structure · Viva questions
- 8
Publish
Share the report and photos with your class, a science fair or your school magazine.
Expected outcome
A before, during and after chart with a conclusion.
Other versions of this project
Beginner version
Compare two days before and two days after.
Advanced version
Use a second corridor as a control group.
Make this project better
- BasicCompare two days before and two days after.
- This projectDesign a nudge and measure its effect
- AdvancedUse a second corridor as a control group.
Science fair mode
Text marked "You write this" is a prompt for your own work; everything else is specific to this project.
- Problem
- You write thisWrite your question as: How does [what you change] affect [what you measure]?
- Hypothesis
- You write thisWrite it as: If [I change this], then [this will happen], because [reason].
- Variables
- You write thisName the one thing you change (independent), the thing you measure (dependent) and what you keep the same (controlled).
Materials and procedure are in Materials and the Roadmap.
Observation table
You write thisDraw a table with one column for what you change, one for each repeat reading and one for the average.
- Graph
- You write thisPlot what you changed along the bottom and what you measured up the side; use a bar chart for categories and a line graph for numbers.
- Results
- You write thisState what the graph shows in one or two sentences, with numbers.
- Conclusion
- You write thisSay whether the result supports your hypothesis and why you think so.
Display board
- Title and your name
- Question
- Hypothesis
- Materials
- Procedure (with photos)
- Data table and graph
- Conclusion
- What you would do next
Questions judges ask
- What is a nudge?
- Why measure after removing it?
- What else could explain your result?
- What would you change if you did this again?
- What was your biggest source of error, and how did you reduce it?
- Where is this idea used in real life?
Working as a team
2–4 people. Suggested roles:
Report and presentation
Report structure
- Title and question
- Background: the science behind it
- Hypothesis
- Materials
- Method (steps, with a diagram or photo)
- Observations (table)
- Results (graph and calculation)
- Sources of error
- Conclusion
- What you would do next
- References
Presentation structure
- The question
- Why it matters
- The idea behind it
- Setup (photo)
- Method in three steps
- Results (one clear graph)
- What the result means
- Errors and limits
- Conclusion and next step
Viva questions
Try answering before you open each one.
What is a nudge?
A change in how choices are presented that alters behaviour without forbidding anything.
Why measure after removing it?
To see whether the change in behaviour was really due to the nudge.
What else could explain your result?
Name one alternative.
Resources
Source and attribution
Original
Written by Technifyed. Free to use for your own school or college project; write the report in your own words. Added 1 Oct 2026.
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