Nudge project page

How can we reduce fines, increase returns, and increase fine repayment systemwide, in particular by kids and teens?

The problem of fines and returns is unique in that it touches many parts of the system, and many behaviors outside the system. Where are the best times and locations to intervene in order to have the most impact?

Is it when someone first signs up for a library card and decides how they would like to be contacted? Is it at the point of checkout, when they receive information and a paper receipt to take home? Is it via text message, phone calls, emails, or alerts, by which they are reminded to do something that they were already planning to do? Or is it in the physical infrastructure of the library, and having enough well publicized and convenient times and locations for returning materials?

The answer may be a combination of the above, and/or something else, and to solve this we need an understanding of all the people, technologies, and artifacts the patron engages with, and how these affect their behavior.