Business Thinking for Designers

partners always wanted, but never knew to ask for. It helps 
identify parts of the model that might not be working well. 
Here’s an EcoSystem Map for our example, H&R Block. Even 
with just a simple understanding of the business model, we 

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Develop your business perspective
can gain a new perspective by quickly drawing out the flow of 
value. 
Figure 3-3: A sample of an EcoSystem Map for H&R Block, a U.S.-
based tax preparation company.
Anticipate your colleagues’ behaviors
As mentioned in Chapter 1, I’m most comfortable in my work 
when I can anticipate the needs of others. When I couldn’t 
anticipate what my business partners would do, I began to look 
for patterns in their behavior.

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53 
Develop your business perspective
Sometimes, data was used to make decisions. Other times, 
the most senior person in the room would just say what they 
wanted and everyone would scramble. I noticed rules of 
business would change from room to room, and in order to 
influence change, I had to take a new approach.
Changing human behavior is hard. B.J. Fogg, a behavior 
scientist, author, and founder and director of the Stanford 
Behavior Design Lab, is one of the leading behavior change 
experts in academia. He’s worked with startups around the 
world to develop new strategies for behavior change, using his 
Fogg Behavior Model (FBM). 
Behavior (B) happens when Motivation (M), 
Ability (A), and a Prompt (P) come together at 
the same moment. 
BJ Fogg
PhD, Behavior Scientist at 
Stanford University
Simply put, the FBM states that any behavior will only happen 
when three elements converge at the same moment in time. 
These are the three elements:

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Develop your business perspective
• Motivation: A person is sufficiently inspired to engage in a 
behavior.
• Ability: A person is capable of performing that behavior.
• Prompt: A person is cued, triggered, called to act, or 
requested at the right time.
As I began looking for patterns in behavior, I realized I didn’t 
know what motivated my colleagues. I didn’t know what skills 
they were capable of performing, what they paid attention to, 
or how they were responding to my cues. To better anticipate 
the behavior of my colleagues, I had to get to know them 
better.