Behavioural science methods are increasingly used to design and evaluate public policies that better reflect human behaviour and decision-making. This working paper proposes guidelines and a visual roadmap, including five key questions to guide the selection of appropriate methods, and seven different experimental or non-experimental methods to choose from.

Government behavioural insights teams have tended to apply behavioural insights using the most well-known tools in the field—small, low cost ‘nudges’ to improve communications, increase compliance and enhance the way services are delivered. This paper has been designed as a conversation starter on how to apply behavioural insights to public policy more strategically.