We do not begin with content. We begin with the behavior that needs to exist afterward.
Audacious Labs uses two connected systems to design learning for real-world behavior change. Behavioral Architecture determines what the program must contain. Hook to Habit determines how learners move through the experience.
Together, they connect the business goal, program design, learner journey, workplace environment, and evidence of change.
Developed by Erin Green, Founder and CEO of Audacious Labs. Meet Erin Green
Program design
Behavioral Architecture
→ What the program must contain
Learner journey
Hook to Habit
→ How learners move through the experience
Why can someone know what to do and still fail to do it?
Knowledge and behavior are not the same outcome. A person may understand the correct action—and even demonstrate it during training—but still return to an old habit when the real moment arrives.
A learning program may help someone:
- Explain the correct approach
- Select the right answer
- Demonstrate a skill with support
- Complete the program successfully
And still fail at the point of performance because of:
- An existing habit
- Missing skill or realistic practice
- A tool that is unavailable
- A weak cue
- A conflicting mindset
- A manager, process, incentive, or workplace barrier
Completion tells you that the learning event happened. It does not tell you what happened afterward.
One system designs the program. One designs the learner journey.
PROGRAM DESIGN
Behavioral Architecture
Determines what the program must contain
A seven-layer system for identifying the behavior, capabilities, tools, conditions, and barriers the program must address.
- Primary question:
- What must be present for the target behavior to occur?
- Structure:
- Seven layers
LEARNER JOURNEY
Hook to Habit
Determines how learners move through the experience
A five-phase journey that moves learners from a reason to engage through first action, capability, workplace application, and sustained performance.
- Primary question:
- What does the learner need at each moment of change?
- Structure:
- Five phases
Behavioral Architecture determines what the program must contain. Hook to Habit determines how learners experience it over time.
The systems work together, but they are not interchangeable.
What must be present for the behavior to occur?
Behavioral Architecture begins with the observable workplace behavior and works backward through the complete set of conditions required to make it possible.
- 1
Observable Habits and Behaviors
The observable action
- 2
Habits to Replace
What happens today instead
- 3
Tools and Environment
What must be available at the moment of action
- 4
Skills Required
What learners must be able to perform
- 5
Foundational Knowledge
What those skills depend on
- 6
Beliefs and Identity
Beliefs or identity conditions affecting action
- 7
Failure Points
What could still prevent performance
The first six layers define the architecture. The seventh stress-tests whether the behavior can survive real conditions.
What does the learner need at each moment of change?
The reason someone first engages is not the same support they need to begin, build skill, perform in the workplace, or continue after disruption.
- 1
Hook
Create a felt reason to engage
- 2
Start
Make the first meaningful action achievable
- 3
Build
Develop capability through practice and feedback
- 4
Flow
Connect the behavior to real work, tools, and cues
- 5
Habit
Support reliable and sustained performance
Hook to Habit helps the design team ask what the learner needs at each moment—not only what content should appear next.
Why are both systems necessary?
Behavioral Architecture defines the program requirements. Hook to Habit organizes those requirements into an experience the learner can engage with, practice, apply, and sustain.
Behavioral Architecture identifies
The target behavior
Hook to Habit determines
Where the journey must lead
Behavioral Architecture identifies
The habit being replaced
Hook to Habit determines
What must become relevant during Hook
Behavioral Architecture identifies
Required skills and knowledge
Hook to Habit determines
What must be practiced during Build
Behavioral Architecture identifies
Tools, cues, and workplace conditions
Hook to Habit determines
How the behavior enters Flow
Behavioral Architecture identifies
Reinforcement and barriers
Hook to Habit determines
What supports Habit and recovery
A strong architecture without a usable learner journey remains a strategy document. An engaging journey without a sound architecture may feel effective while failing to produce the required behavior.
EVIDENCE-INFORMED METHODOLOGY
Behavioral Architecture and Hook to Habit were developed by Erin Green as practical syntheses for learning-program design. The underlying principles are informed by established research and applied frameworks across behavior change, motivation, learning, memory, environmental design, experience design, and related fields.
Does your program contain what the behavior requires?
Review one current learning program across the seven layers of Behavioral Architecture. Receive an immediate high-level view of its strengths, possible gaps, and the questions that deserve attention next.
No email required. Immediate result. A high-level self-assessment—not a formal audit.