Behavioral Economics
6
 minute read

The HUMANS Framework

Published on
May 12, 2024

Rules and policies are created to drive or enforce behavioral changes on a large scale. Often, policies are created without considering the behavioral factors that affect decision-making. There are three factors that influence behavior that always need to be considered:

  1. Mental bandwidth: We have limited cognitive resources, so we rely on mental shortcuts to make decisions.
  2. People are social: We tend to look to others for guidance on our behavior and use this as a compass for what is acceptable.
  3. Environmental factors: Decision-making is not always linear and consistent. We tend to change our behavior depending on the context in which we must decide.

Failure to address these factors can result in poor engagement and uptake. In this article, we will discuss how you can ensure you are considering these three factors using Christian Hunt's "HUMANS" framework from his book, "Humanizing Rules."

Hunt notes that the HUMANS framework should not be used as a manifesto, but rather as a guide to help rule makers put themselves in the shoes of the individuals the rules are designed for.

H - Helpful

Ask yourself: “How helpful will individuals perceive this change to be?”. As human beings, we are always looking for the easiest path, and for that reason, we want to understand how changes can benefit us. If you position a change as beneficial to the company, the rule you are trying to implement may fall flat.

For example, let’s say you introduce a mentorship policy to help your organization track growth and request that all employees fill out a form weekly. Not only does it add to the workload, but the employee also does not see the benefit for themselves. As a result, employees may fill out the form half-heartedly, and the data you seek is still missing.

You may have better luck collecting productive responses if you reframe the goal as a tracker that will help the employee keep track of their accomplishments for future promotions and increase reviews. This change will now feel personally beneficial, increasing the likelihood of adoption.

Take practical action by conducting a benefit analysis survey which allows you as the policymaker to gauge how employees perceive the benefits of the change. This feedback can help inform your policy and help you make any necessary adjustments before implementation. It can also inform your communication strategy and assist you in directly highlighting the personal benefits for the employee.

U - Understanding

Ask yourself: “Do people understand what is required of them, and do you as the rule maker understand why you are asking for the change?” Often, when creating policies, there's a tendency to use elevated language when what's more important is clear and easily digestible information.

The second question helps ensure that individuals know the policymakers understand what they are asking for. If individuals think that they are being asked to change their behavior just for the sake of it, they are more likely to be disengaged. Leading changes with transparency can improve adoption.

To ensure easy understanding of policies, be sure to include practical examples where possible. Additionally, you can set up feedback channels that will allow individuals to ask any questions or express concerns about the policy. By regularly reviewing and addressing these queries can foster a better understanding of the policy.

M - Manageable

Ask yourself: “Do people have the ability to complete the desired behavior?”. According to BJ Fogg's model of behavior, behavior is a product of motivation, ability, and triggers. In simple terms, when people do not have the ability to complete a task, they must be highly motivated for the desired behavior to occur. Often, change is met with low motivation, and it's the rule-maker's responsibility to ensure that the change follows the path of least resistance. So, if the policy you're implementing is complex and disrupts the typical flow of work, compliance will be difficult.

For example, you notice a productivity deficit and decide to roll out a policy that requires employees to fill out timesheets on a new system to help you understand how employees use their time. This tracking mechanism can disrupt the flow of work and have unintended consequences like further decreasing productivity levels. If you believe this is the only solution, you need a plan in place to increase the employee’s ability to complete this action.

To mitigate any risk, you can share a capacity assessment before introducing the policy. This will help you understand if individuals have the necessary tools, time, and training. If you have the time, it may be worthwhile to pilot the changes on a smaller group to help identify any pain points or challenges before implementation.

A - Acceptable

Ask yourself: “How will the individual feel if you impose this change?”. This question addresses emotions that unconsciously drive our behavior. Policymakers often overlook this, assuming that individuals affected by the policy are obligated to follow the new rule, even if it feels unfair. Structuring policies and rules in a way that leaves people feeling negative can lead to disengagement.

For example, you notice a decrease in productivity during work-from-home (WFH) hours, so you implement a new policy heavily regulating WFH. Employees have grown accustomed to WFH flexibility and feel the change is unfair. This can lead to unintended consequences on culture and employee retention. During this change, employees may experience reactance, which states that individuals tend to act against advice when they feel their freedom of choice is threatened. This question helps policymakers empathize with those affected by the policy.

To help you understand the impact of the policy, you can conduct an emotional impact survey to understand how individuals are feeling about the change. You can use these results to iterate and amend policies.

N - Normal

Ask yourself: “Is this rule in this setting normal?”. Context is a major factor affecting decision-making, and as a rule-maker or policymaker, you need to understand if the change you are implementing is standard in your environment.

Continuing from the WFH example above, if the policy was created before COVID-19, it would be considered normal because the world had never experienced a shutdown. During the pandemic, employees were forced to WFH, and some companies thrived. Currently, WFH is not considered a benefit but rather a new norm. This question helps policymakers understand that context is an important factor in adoption, forcing rule-makers to be creative and find solutions that align with the new norm.

Before implementing a policy, you can conduct a contextual analysis to study industry benchmarks and wider social context to determine what is considered “normal” in the given context. It is your responsibility as a policymaker to continuously monitor shifts in societal norms or industry standards and adapt policies to remain relevant.

S- Salient

In conclusion, crafting effective policies that are adopted and endorsed requires a nuanced understanding of human behavior and the factors that influence it. The HUMANS framework, as explained by Christian Hunt in his book "Humanizing Rules," provides a comprehensive guide for policy makers to navigate this complex landscape.

By considering the HUMANS principles - Helpful, Understanding, Manageable, Acceptable, Normal, and Salient - policy makers can ensure their rules resonate with individuals, increasing the likelihood of successful implementation.

Share this post
Behavioral Economics

Check Renascence's Signature Services

Unparalleled Services

Behavioral Economics

Discover the power of Behavioral Economics in driving customer behavior.

Unparalleled Services

Mystery Shopping

Uncover hidden insights with our mystery shopping & touchpoint audit services.

Unparalleled Services

Experience Design

Crafting seamless journeys, blending creativity & practicality for exceptional experiences.

Get the Latest Updates Here

Stay informed with our regular newsletter and related blog posts.

By subscribing, you agree to our Terms and Conditions.
Thank you! Your subscription has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong. Please try again.
Renascence Podcasts

Experience Loom

Discover the latest insights from industry leaders in our management consulting and customer experience podcasts.

No items found.
No items found.
No items found.
No items found.
No items found.
Latest Articles in Experience Journal

Experience Journal's Latest

Stay up to date with our informative blog posts.

Marketing
5 min read

How to Boost Your Marketing Strategy

Learn effective strategies to improve your marketing efforts.
Read more
View All
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Customer Experience
15
min read

Customer Experience (CX) in Healthcare: A Cure for Patient Pain Points

This article explores how healthcare systems—from public hospitals to private clinics and health-tech platforms—are using Customer Experience (CX) to eliminate pain points and deliver care that is not only clinical, but also cognitively and emotionally coherent.
Read more
Digital Transformation
15
min read

Digital Transformation (DT) Trends in 2026: What to Expect

This article explores the leading DT trends of 2026—not predictions, but practical shifts happening now across CX, EX, and operational models in the Middle East and globally.
Read more
Behavioral Economics
15
min read

Behavioral Economics for Business: How Companies Use It Every Day

From pricing strategy to employee onboarding, BE helps businesses design for real human behavior—emotional, biased, sometimes irrational, but always patterned. This article explores how leading firms are integrating BE across touchpoints to reduce friction, boost trust, and increase decision alignment.
Read more
Employee Experience
15
min read

Employee Experience (EX) How-To: Practical Tips That Work

Employee Experience doesn’t improve by chance—it improves by design. And while strategies, frameworks, and tech are important, real EX progress happens in everyday behaviors, rituals, and touchpoints.
Read more
Employee Experience
12
min read

The Critical Factors Influencing Employee Experience (EX)

Employee Experience (EX) is no longer a side conversation. In 2025, it’s a boardroom priority, a leadership KPI, and a strategic advantage. But what truly shapes EX—and what’s just noise?
Read more
Employee Experience
8
min read

Remote Employee Experience (EX) Jobs: How To Succeed in 2025

By 2025, the remote workforce isn't a side experiment—it’s a permanent and growing talent layer across the global economy. In the Middle East and beyond, companies are hiring remotely to access niche skills, reduce overhead, and provide flexibility. But flexibility alone doesn’t equal satisfaction.
Read more
Customer Experience
8
min read

Customer Experience (CX) for SMEs in the Middle East: What Works and What Fails

In the Middle East, SMEs contribute between 30% to 50% of GDP depending on the country—and in places like the UAE and Saudi Arabia, governments are actively investing in this sector as a pillar of economic diversification. But while many SMEs offer innovation and agility, their Customer Experience (CX) maturity often lags behind.
Read more
Employee Experience
8
min read

Why CX Starts With EX in 2026: Culture, Connection, Performance

You can’t deliver empathy to your customers if your employees feel ignored. You can’t build trust externally if it doesn’t exist internally. And no amount of automation, personalization, or service design can compensate for a disengaged workforce.
Read more
Employee Experience
8
min read

The Employee Experience (EX) Wheel: Mapping Outcomes

How do organizations actually track and improve employee experience across so many variables—culture, onboarding, recognition, trust, feedback, and growth?
Read more
Behavioral Economics
8
min read

Behavioral Economics Can Best Be Described As "Psychology Meets Economics"

For decades, economics operated under the assumption that humans are rational agents. At the same time, psychology studied how emotions, memory, and perception shape human decisions. When these two worlds collided, a new discipline emerged—behavioral economics (BE)—one that sees the world not as a perfect market of calculators, but as a messy, emotional, biased, and deeply human system of decision-making.
Read more
Behavioral Economics
8
min read

Behavioral Economics Is More Than Just Numbers

At first glance, behavioral economics looks like a subfield of economics—anchored in equations, probabilities, and experiments. But dig deeper, and you’ll find something more powerful. Behavioral economics is a lens for understanding how people feel, decide, trust, and act in real life.
Read more
Behavioral Economics
8
min read

Behavioral Economics Explains Why People Are Irrational: And What to Do About It

Classical economics assumes people are rational—calculating risk, maximizing utility, and always acting in their own best interest. But behavioral economics blew that myth wide open. People procrastinate, overpay, overreact, ignore facts, and choose things that hurt them. And they do it consistently.
Read more
Behavioral Economics
10
min read

Is Behavioral Economics Micro or Macro? Understanding Its Scope

When behavioral economics (BE) entered the mainstream, it was widely viewed as a microeconomic tool—focused on the quirks of individual decision-making. But as governments, organizations, and economists expanded its use, a new question emerged: Can behavioral economics shape systems—not just individuals?
Read more
Employee Experience
15
min read

How McKinsey Approaches Employee Experience (EX)? Strategies for Modern Organizations

This article explores how McKinsey frames and operationalizes EX, drawing from real frameworks, case data, and published insights. We’ll look at what they get right, where they’re pushing the field, and what other organizations can learn from their structure.
Read more
Behavioral Economics
8
min read

Behavioral Economics Is Dead: Debates on Its Future

The phrase “Behavioral Economics is dead” doesn’t come from skeptics alone—it’s a headline that’s appeared in conferences, academic critiques, and even op-eds by economists themselves. But what does it actually mean?
Read more
Employee Experience
9
min read

What Does an Employee Experience (EX) Leader Do?

In this article, we’ll explore what EX letters are, where they’re used, and how they differ from conventional HR communication. With verified examples from real organizations and no fictional embellishments, this guide is about how companies are using written rituals to close loops, shape emotion, and build trust.
Read more
Employee Experience
15
min read

What Does an Employee Experience (EX) Leader Do?

In 2026, Employee Experience (EX) Leaders are no longer just HR executives with a trendy title—they’re behavioral designers, experience architects, and culture strategists. Their role blends psychology, technology, human-centered design, and organizational transformation.
Read more
Employee Experience
15
min read

Why Employee Experience (EX) Is Important in 2026

In this article, we examine the real reasons EX matters right now, using verified data, case examples from the Middle East and beyond, and behavioral science principles that explain why employees don't just remember what they do—they remember how it made them feel.
Read more