Psychology for Digital Behavior Change (DBC)
Learn how to build psychology-driven websites, apps & campaigns
Classroom & self-paced training
Join our students from beginners to pros in top companies:
Build psychology-driven products
that are motivating, usable and engaging
This course will teach you the skills and knowledge required to build psychology-inspired websites, apps and digital campaigns.
We cover 50+ behavioral change principles, psychological design patterns and a step-by-step behavioral design process that you can bring back to the office and apply immediately.
The class includes examples from many fields and industries, but you're invited to bring a challenge of your choosing so you can focus on applications specific to your work.
Our training will inspire you with new ideas, deepen your understanding of digital psychology and help you develop new skills in human-centered design.
We recommend this course as the starting point for most participants.
Skills and knowledge you’ll gain
By the end of this workshop, you’ll be able to:
Modules
In class or online, we’ll cover:
Day 1
- Using psychology in digital media
- A realistic look at digital influence
- Targeting the core drivers of behavior change
- Building behavioral segments & personas
- Psychology of human-computer relationships
- Brand/product credibility & user trust
- Behavioral science 101
- Behavioral design process
- Psychological wireframing
- Controlling user attention
- Boosting user comprehension
- Motivating users with emotional neuroscience
- Nudging users with decision science
- Pricing psychology
- Winning users' trust & building confidence
Day 2
- Rapid persuasive design testing
- How users conceptualize virtual space
- Facilitating behavior change
- Behavioral processes & user flows
- Building intuitive navigational systems
- Motivating & training users to complete tasks
- Managing disengagement
- Journey mapping through stages of change
- Prototyping for behavioral design
- Media psychology & perception
- Digital social psychology
- Digital context psychology
- Psychological design audit
- Psychology-inspired strategy & design
- Behavioral science simulation game
Day 3
- Behavior insights software
- Behavioral insights report
- How to combine psychological principles
- Managing psychological backfires
- Building psychological architectures
- Motivation & efficacy design patterns
- Landing page psychology
- Data capture & storage strategies
- Personalized feedback psychology
- Feedback loop design patterns
- Coaching & gamification design patterns
- Architecting long-term processes of change
- Building multi-channel engagement sequences
- Reinforcing & shaping user behavior
- Behavioral science & creative design experiments
Here’s what you get
Classroom training kit
- Training guide
- Reference manual
- Behavioral design workbook
- Wireframe kit
- Cheatsheets
Online training resources
- On-demand video lessons
- LIVE tutorial recordings
- Wireframe kit (mini)
- Behavioral design workbook
- Closed community
- Cheatsheets
Got a challenge? Bring it to class
A hands-on approach to behavioral design
To help you internalize the content, we’ve structured the course around a behavioral design process. We'll take you through a step-by-step process, leading to a digital psychology-inspired product of your choosing. This will reinforce the lessons and ensure that you can translate psychology into digital practice.
You'll develop skills in the overall process, which will touch hands-on skills in psychology-inspired software modelling, UX, information architecture, marketing, branding, and content strategy.
We've structured the design process across our two classes. DBC takes you through the process, ending with a testable lo-fi prototype. If you take EDP as well, you'll extend your protype, and fine-tune it.
The classroom design process is intermixed with the lessons, while the online class design process happens during the LIVE tutorials.
Classroom vs. self-paced editions
We offer this course in classroom, self-paced editions, and corporate formats.
Here's how our classroom and online editions work.
Classroom |
Self-paced |
|---|---|
| Duration 2 days |
Duration 15 hours of on-demand with 5 live group tutorials |
| Timing 9:00–17:00 with 1 hour lunch and two 15 min breaks |
Timing Self-paced, but during the LIVE term, schedule 3-4 hours per week for video lessons and 1.5 hours for tutorials |
| Instructional hours 13 hours, based on 6.5 hours of instruction per day |
Instructional hours 15 hours of lessons. Plus, 7.5 hours of ABD tutorials covering hands-on skills for DBC. |
| Logistics The class runs 9:00 am – 5:00 pm (but please arrive by 8:50 as we start at 9:00 sharp). There is a 15-minute break in the morning, an hour for lunch, and another 15-minute break in the afternoon. |
Logistics We'll grant you immediate access to the videos as soon as you register, plus access to the waiting room for the upcoming LIVE tutorials. You'll have access to the lessons, and then we'll start the behavioral design process during the LIVE training term. |
Prerequisites
This is our most popular class and the one we recommend as a starting point for most people who want to learn how to apply digital psychology.
This class is suitable for those who use digital media across a range of applications, from tactical hands-on builders to strategic planners.
Looking to decide whether it is at the right level for you or want more information? Check out our FAQ or give us a shout.
Certification
After completing all modules, covering 19.5 hours of instruction over 3 days in class, or 15 hours online, you will receive a certificate of completion.
If you wish, you may write the test to earn you "Digital Behavior Change Certificate (DBCC)". Three attempts to pass are included.
Learn about your certification options.
Meet your instructor
Brian Cugelman, PhD
Dr. Brian Cugelman is an online behavior change specialist with decades of experience as a practitioner, researcher, evaluator, and educator. Since 1997, Brian has run online behavior change programs for industry, non-profit, government, and United Nations organizations.
Plus, he has trained thousands of people face-to-face, from working professionals to students across multiple universities.
He combines proven expertise with real-world experience to create a learning environment that is practical, engaging, down-to-earth, and fun.
Read Brian's bio or read how he teaches behavioral design.
Who this course is for
This class is suitable for:
- Usability and UI/UX professionals
- Graphic designers and interactive designers
- Digital marketing and advertising specialists
- Content strategists and web writers
- Product marketing managers
- Digital project managers
- Health promotion specialists
- Conversion optimizers & researchers
- Entrepreneurs
Industries that will benefit
Our training attracts an eclectic blend of professionals from:
- Technology firms, cloud services
- Digital agencies, creative firms
- Non-profit organizations
- Government, health sector
- Retail businesses, consulting services
- Financial services, insurance
- Media, gaming, entertainment
- Telecommunications, infrastructure
- Small businesses, freelancers, students
- Academia, behavioral science, psychology
How students describe our training
Brian's workshop was great! Very informative and I look forward to any other workshops that will be coming up.
One of the absolute best trainings I have had in years! I will never look at a site the same way again.
Great workshop! ... We will start implementing some of the ideas in our projects.
Online Education Packages
All package mix self-paced learning with LIVE, hands-on ABD classes.
Start now with self-paced learning, then once you're enrolled, sign-up for any upcoming LIVE ABD group workshop.
Digital Psychology Package
This package covers the essential principles and skills for building psychology-driven products and campaigns.
Emotional Design Package
This package covers the emotional motivators and hands-on skills for building emotion-driven products and campaigns.
Behavioral Design Complete Package
This package covers all key principles and skills for psychology-driven products and campaigns.
Need a hand?
If you need help with payment or require a custom invoice or documentation, contact us at
+1 (416) 858-2055 or team(at)alterspark.com.
Satisfaction guarantee
We know you’ll gain a lot from our training, but we offer a 48-hour window to receive a 100% refund if our online training does not meet your expectations.
See the details.
Your next steps
You’ll enroll through Teachable, our learning platform with secure payments. After, you’ll receive a confirmation with access to your on-demand lessons, tools and live tutorial signup.
Secure registration
All online payments are securely processed by PayPal and Stripe.
Have questions?
See our FAQ or contact us to learn more.
LIVE Training Schedule
Applied Behavioral Design (ABD) is our live, online group workshop, included with all training packages.
To join any ABD term, you must first enroll in a training package, then sign up for the term you wish to attend.
If a scheduling conflict comes up, we record every live tutorial and allow students to switch terms at no cost.
Applied Behavioral Design (ABD)
28 May - 23 July 2026
Completed
LIVE Online Workshop
- Format: LIVE Online Group (9 weeks)
- Facilitator: Brian Cugelman, PhD
- Dates: 28 May - 23 July 2026 (See schedule)
- Time: Thursdays (13:00-14:30 EST)
How to Enroll
To join this live workshop, enroll in any online training package with ABD tutorials.
Join thousands who’ve completed our training
From beginners to pros in top companies
Frequently asked questions
Guarantees and Terms
All training come with our Guarantees and Terms. Please read these before enrolling.