Insights & Behavior

Interviews provide in-depth insights into people’s attitudes, emotions, motivations, and barriers to behavioral change. They can take many forms, each contributing different perspectives. 

The in-depth semi-structured interview provides insights into the experiences of a selection of individuals. This type of interview works particularly well in combination with quantitative methods or when identifying motivational factors or barriers. For example, we have conducted several studies on how public authorities can support energy renovations among private homeowners.  

The situational interview is shorter and less structured but is particularly effective for understanding how people immediately experience a given place or situation, such as a classroom, urban space, or product. We use this method, among other applications, to support analyses of indoor climate.  

Observations are often conducted with active participation by the observer. This can include participant observation, where we take part in a given activity and experience firsthand how it is carried out.  

Observations can also be more distanced, simply recording the behavior, activities, and practices such as energy use or waste sorting.  

Focus groups are ideal for understanding how options and discourses are formed within a group.  
A focus group brings together several people to gain insights into their views on a specific topic. This is especially useful when introducing a customer group to a new product and exploring how they respond to it. 

The method also leaves room for creativity and visual input. One key advantage, compared to in-depth interviews, is that it allows you to gather insights from several people at the same time, leading to valuable discussions on the topic.  

We have solid experience using surveys both as large quantitative studies and as a supplement to qualitative data collection. Surveys can provide a more representative view of a larger segment of the population, making it an ideal method for studies that aim to generate broader and more general insights. 

Unlike qualitative methods, surveys reveal how many people hold a certain opinion, but to a lesser extent explain how or why people think and act the way they do. We have used surveys for everything from evaluating citizen advisory services to assessing the level of readiness across all Danish municipalities with regards to data-driven energy management.  

In addition to teaching and facilitating workshops on the topic, we also design and implement projects aimed at developing and creating initiatives through nudging and behavioral design. The goal is always to promote more sustainable behavior – for example in areas such as food, waste, energy, and transport. 

We typically begin by defining the desired behavior, followed by an in-depth exploration of the barriers through a barrier analysis. Based on this, we develop, and design interventions intended to address the identified points of friction. This requires an exploratory approach and a recognition that we do not know the solutions in advance.   

Once the solutions have been developed, designed and tested, the interventions need to be revisited, tested again, adjusted and refined.