Interview with Kerstin Oberprieler

Behavioural Science is a rapidly expanding field and everyday new research is being developed in academia, tested and implemented by practitioners in financial organisations, development agencies, government ‘nudge’ units and more. This interview is part of a series interviewing prominent people in the field. And in today's interview the answers are provided by Kerstin Oberprieler.

Kerstin is a gamification and behavioural designer, blending academic research with design and innovation to tackle behaviour and engagement challenges. She works with governments, private organisations, educational institutions and not-for-profits to apply psychology to deliver impact.  Kerstin has her PhD in behaviour change and gamification and is described as one of the World’s Leading Figures in Behavioural Science by Insights Success Magazine. She is also an Adjunct Fellow with the University of Western Sydney.

She is a sought after keynote speaker, having presented in Australia, USA, Germany, Singapore and Hong Kong, as well as having delivered a TED talk.

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Who or what got you into behavioural science

 Having grown up in a multicultural environment, I’ve always been fascinated by what makes people act differently in different contexts and cultures. I became increasingly interested in behaviour change and motivation during my time competing in Taekwondo and representing Australia. I looked for ways to hack my own motivation and, when I began coaching others, ways I could enhance their motivation and performance.

What is the accomplishment you are proudest of as a behavioural scientist?

That’s a tough one! I am proud of bringing a gamification and playful lens to nudging behaviour. Having both studied behaviour change and gamification as part of my PhD thesis and worked with dozens of clients to design playful interventions for them, I love seeing the interventions in the real world and seeing a quantifiable difference.

One of my recent proud accomplishments is a gamified community transcription tool for the Australian War Memorial, which rewards citizens who volunteer their time to preserve precious archives that would otherwise be lost. This was released a few months ago, and has already had almost 30,000 users contribute who have together edited and transcribed 6 million words!

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If you weren’t a behavioural scientist, what would you be doing?

Being a martial arts instruction and studio owner – which I do in my spare time!

How do you apply behavioural science in your personal life?

I use behavioural science when I’m working on a new goal, using salience, Goal Setting Theory, visual progress, accountability buddies and behaviour bundling.

One of my favourite examples of gamified nudging is The Conqueror Virtual Challenges, which help me stay motivated to exercise through running. You choose a real world destination like the Great Wall of China or Mt Kilimanjaro that you want to virtually run, it shows where you are virtually in that location, you get a shiny medal at the end, and your efforts help plant trees and remove plastic bottles from the ocean!

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With all your experience, what skills would you say are needed to be a behavioural scientist? Are there any recommendations you would make?

I believe the key skills are critical thinking, strong research and data analysis skills, and ability to work in a multi-disciplinary team. Ethical and cultural sensitivity is really important as well, as interventions must be both context-appropriate and transparent. Effective communication and the ability to collaborate with diverse stakeholders are needed skills to ensure that insights are applied practically. And I’m a big fan of creativity, trying new things and pushing boundaries by challenging the status quo.

How do you think behavioural science will develop (in the next 10 years)?

I believe behavioural science will become even more integrated into systemic problem-solving. We’ll likely see more collaboration across industries and disciplines, tackling challenges like climate change, public health, and social justice. I also see an increase in real-world experimentation and the sharing of both successes and failures. To advance as a field, we need more openness and transparency around what works and what doesn’t, moving beyond only celebrating the wins.

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What advice would you give to young behavioural scientists or those looking to

progress into the field?

For those new to behavioural science, a solid grounding in key theories and research methods is essential. You'll also want to get hands-on experience, whether through internships or real-world projects. Broaden your horizons with interdisciplinary learning to deepen your understanding of human behaviour and get creative in your intervention designs. Ethics must underpin all your work—transparency, respect, and integrity are non-negotiable. Staying current with emerging trends like digital interventions and AI will keep you ahead of the curve, and allow you craft innovative and effective behavioural solutions.

Which other behavioural scientists would you love to read an interview by?

Dilip Soman, Susan Michie and Angela Duckworth.

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What are the greatest challenges being faced by behavioural science, right now?

As a field, we face several significant challenges. Replicability is a major issue—many findings are difficult to reproduce, which affects the credibility of our work. Or at least we need a more nuanced way of understanding and communicating this. Similarly, another challenge is ensuring contextual fit - interventions that succeed in one environment often fail in others, making it hard to generalise results.

Ethical considerations around nudging and behaviour change are also critical, particularly around transparency and informed consent. And with AI on the rise, we need to work with new challenges like data privacy and the risk of behavioural insights being misused.

These challenges are not insurmountable, but they require deliberation and consideration from all of us.

What is your biggest frustration with the field as it stands?

The biggest frustration is the lack of transparency around failures. Too often, only successful behavioural interventions are published, which creates a skewed understanding of how well these methods work in the real world. As a field, I believe we need to foster a culture where scientists and practitioners openly share their failures so that we can all learn and improve together.

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Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions Kerstin!

As I said before, this interview is part of a larger series which can also be found here on the blog. Make sure you don't miss any of those, nor any of the upcoming interviews!

Keep your eye on Money on the Mind!