HEURISTIC 2/10
Create distance from daily life
OVERVIEW
Address serious issues implicitly to avoid confrontation, and maintain psychological safety by creating distance from everyday life.
Recommendations
RECOMMENDATION 1
Use metaphors and narratives to put things in a third-person perspective, rather than directly criticizing behavior
SIGNIFICANCE
- •If one is aware that someone else is trying to change their behavior, it is likely to make them feel threatened
- •By making a game in which the student plays a role or observes a character, there is a sense of psychological safety which makes the student more receptive to having their attitudes shift subconsciously
RECOMMENDATION 2
Where possible, make educational experiences less serious and "work-related" by embedding make-believe elements
SIGNIFICANCE
- •This create a learning environment that primarily seems fun and whimsical rather than serious and academic, making students more likely to want to come back and revisit the experience
- •This makes the experience feel less threatening and invasive, thus, making it less likely to trigger psychological aversion to change