Behind the crime
Expertise
Behavioral Design & Illustration
Duration
10 weeks
Important sources
Humankind, The Lucifer Effect & Mind Field
Understanding human behaviour
For my minor in Behaviour Design, I created an interactive portal based on two books I read: Humankind by Rutger Bregman and The Lucifer Effect by Philip Zimbardo. Both explore how we behave as humans and how it's possible for ordinary people to do terrible things. The portal is meant to help people understand human behaviour more clearly, especially the biases and influences that play a role in extreme situations.
No Good or Evil
When I started this project, I was focused on the contrast between The Lucifer Effect and Humankind. I wanted to understand the difference between good and evil and expected the two books to take very different positions. But then I discovered that, despite their different styles and perspectives, they actually share the same core idea: people aren’t inherently good or bad. Our behaviour is shaped by the context we’re in. Both books highlight the influence of social norms and the environment. We adapt to what's seen as normal in a given moment and our actions are largely shaped by the situation around us.
What I did
After discovering that both books pointed to the same core insight, I developed a portal to help users better understand human behaviour. It focuses on facts, biases, and the influences that shape our actions, without blame or judgment. The portal shows how upbringing and environment play a major role in behaviour. While responsibility matters, understanding the context helps users reflect and learn.To make difficult situations easier to engage with, I chose to use illustrations. This creates some emotional distance, helping users process what they see without becoming overwhelmed. Characters are shown without faces at first. Only after clicking on a character does their face appear, this was intentional. We often judge situations before we see the people involved. This interaction invites users to pause, reflect, and see the human side of the story.
Sketchnotes of the series Mind Field
Behind the crime
This interactive portal was built in Figma to explore different behavioural influences, such as conformity, obedience, and dehumanisation. By clicking on each character, you can uncover their backstory and see how context shapes behaviour. I also gave a workshop on this theme, you can find the slides further down the page.
The workshop slides
