Embedding behavioural science in FCDO Innovation: A Technology and Innovation Unit portfolio review and toolkit
Authors: Pippa Ranger (FCDO), Clemence Quint (MAGENTA) and Sylvie Kilford (RCC)
Technology and innovation are central to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) approach to tackling complex development challenges. Yet even the most technically robust solutions can fail if they do not account for how people behave in practice.
Recognising this, FCDO’s Technology and Innovation Unit (TIU), working through the Global Research and Technology Development (GRTD) Research Commissioning Centre (RCC), commissioned MAGENTA Consulting to review and support the adoption of behavioural science in FCDO’s Technology and innovation investments.
Addressing the needs identified in the review, the team created the Applied Behavioural Science Start Up Pack. It is a practical resource to help funders, programme teams, entrepreneurs and delivery partners apply a behavioural lens in technology and innovation projects in low-resource contexts.
- Read about the behavioural science portfolio review
- Explore the Applied Behavioural Science Start Up Pack
- Listen to the interactive online workshop designed to help practitioners apply behavioural science to technology and innovation programming
- Access the slide deck
Reviewing the innovation portfolio through a behavioural lens
The portfolio review, completed in late 2025, assessed how behavioural science was being used across TIU-funded programmes, including hubs such as TRANSFORM, Frontier Technologies Hub (FT), Artificial Intelligence for Development (AI4D), GSMA Mobile for Humanitarian (M4H) and Mobile for Development (M4D), the Global Innovation Fund (GIF), and Assisted Technology 2030 (AT2030).
MAGENTA conducted a rapid literature review, 20 in‑depth interviews with grantees and participatory workshops with FCDO teams. An external advisory group of behavioural science and innovation experts gave professional input and provided peer support.
The review was structured around seven core components of applied behavioural science, from problem definition and diagnosis through to intervention design, co‑design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. This provided a systematic way to assess where behavioural science was present, absent or under‑utilised across the portfolio.
Key findings: strong interest, uneven practice
MAGENTA’s analysis found widespread recognition of the value of behavioural science, but uneven application in practice. Many projects incorporated user research or piloting, but few used structured behavioural diagnosis or explicit behavioural theories of change.
At the same time, the review revealed strong interest among grantees and FCDO teams for more practical, accessible ways to apply behavioural science. Many interviewees could clearly describe how earlier insight into how people interact with and respond to their solutions might have strengthened the adoption, scalability or sustainability of their innovations.
From review to action: tools for everyday practice
Based on the insights from the review, MAGENTA developed a set of practical, user‑centred tools designed specifically for innovation and low‑resource settings. These were consolidated into the Applied Behavioural Science Start Up Pack, launched in 2026.
The Start Up Pack includes two complementary resources:
- The Triage tool helps funders and practitioners quickly assess whether behavioural science is likely to add value to a project and at what stage.
- The Field Guide provides a step‑by‑step framework for applying a behavioural lens across seven stages, from scanning and defining behaviours to diagnosis, design, co‑design and implementation.
Both are starting points, not prescriptions. We’ve designed them to be adapted to the specific needs and context of the project or programme.
Additionally, we’ve added a supporting AI augmentation guide for both tools, providing practical guidance on using a large language model (LLM) to support their implementation and use.
Crucially, these tools are intentionally framed in the language of innovation and entrepreneurship rather than academic behavioural science. This design choice aims to lower barriers to use and allow behavioural thinking to be integrated within existing programme and funding processes.
Building capability across the system
In February 2026, MAGENTA partnered with TIU to deliver an interactive workshop introducing FCDO stakeholders to the Start Up Pack and demonstrating how behavioural science can be applied in real innovation contexts.
The session emphasised defining observable behaviours, diagnosing barriers and designing interventions that make behaviours normal, easy, attractive and routine, using frameworks such as COM-B and NEAR.
The review also set out a phased pathway for embedding behavioural science at scale. Recommendations included piloting the tools across hubs, developing internal behavioural ‘sherpas’ or ‘champions’, creating communities of practice and integrating behavioural expectations into funding and reporting templates.
A foundation for sustained impact
Together, the portfolio review and Applied Behavioural Science Start Up Pack provide a practical and valuable foundation for more effective, inclusive and sustainable innovation. They can help ensure that technology not only works but is genuinely adopted and sustained in real-world contexts.
Feedback
Have you used these tools? Please share your experience with us here for the Triage tool and here for the Field Guide
Behavioural science in practice – a case study (from the behavioural science portfolio review)
HappyTap — using behavioural evidence to design accessible handwashing solutions
HappyTap is a social enterprise that set out to transform global handwashing practices by addressing a simple but pervasive problem: while knowledge about hygiene is widespread, actual handwashing rates are extremely low, even among healthcare workers in high-income countries. The organisation, funded by TRANSFORM, partnered with human-centred design experts (including IDEO designers) to create a portable, attractive handwashing station that could be easily deployed in classrooms, clinics and households. The goal was to overcome the practical barriers of convenience, access and desirability that consistently undermine hygiene campaigns focused only on awareness.
We have all these studies to show that the knowledge and awareness campaigns aren’t effective, and we have quite a bit of good evidence showing that improving access and convenience and making handwashing facilities desirable is … the best approach.
From the outset, HappyTap grounded its work in a secondary evidence review of global hygiene research, including behavioural science models from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. This review confirmed that awareness campaigns do not change behaviour; instead, convenience, visibility, and ease of use are the most powerful drivers. The review uncovered findings such as adherence dropping sharply when stations are more than seven metres away, and responsibility being greater when a handwashing unit sits in a classroom rather than a hallway. These behavioural insights then guided design and deployment decisions.
To translate these findings into practice, HappyTap ran extensive co-design and user-testing sessions. Prototypes were placed in real households and schools, rotated, and compared to uncover what people actually valued in daily use, which was often different from what they said initially. This iterative process informed features that made the stations more practical, affordable, and appealing. Beyond the product itself, the team recognised that behaviour change also depended on “upstream actors” – teachers, principals and facility managers – who controlled access and maintenance.
The evidence-driven approach also shaped the strategy for scaling. Rather than pushing for standalone hygiene programmes, HappyTap pursued a pragmatic ‘bundling’ approach to embed handwashing facilities into existing, well-funded campaigns such as nutrition and maternal health. This made adoption easier for policymakers, who are often swayed by what is low-risk, easy to visualise and politically rewarding. Demonstration sites with progressive leaders created visible proof points to inspire further uptake.
These cycles of evidence and adaptation delivered concrete outcomes: more consistent classroom and clinic handwashing, greater ownership by staff and teachers, and facilities that users wanted to maintain and use. Just as importantly, the work reframed the sector’s understanding of the problem, shifting the focus from individual motivation to systemic convenience and access. The secondary behavioural evidence review was pivotal in this shift, helping HappyTap avoid the ‘knowledge trap’ and instead build an intervention grounded in what truly drives behaviour.
In short, HappyTap demonstrates how combining rigorous evidence with human-centred design and political pragmatism can move hygiene initiatives beyond posters and slogans toward scalable, sustainable solutions that make handwashing a convenient reality for all.
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