What are Prompts/cues?
Prompts and cues are environmental or temporal signals that remind a person to perform the target behavior at the appropriate moment. They work by triggering the behavior without requiring the person to remember on their own.
How it works
Prompts can be external (an alarm, a sticky note, a text message, a physical object placed in the behavioral path) or internal (linking the behavior to an existing routine). They are most effective when they arrive at the moment of action and are specific to the behavior. Generic reminders are less effective than contextualized prompts that specify what to do, when, and where.
Applied example
A medication reminder app that sends an alert at the exact time the person should take their pill and includes the specific medication name and dose is more effective than a vague ‘Remember your health goals’ notification, because it is timely, specific, and actionable.
Why it matters
Prompts and cues solve the ‘forgetting’ problem that accounts for a large portion of non-adherence, making them one of the simplest and most cost-effective behavior change techniques.
