Frame the problem
Turn a broad strategic ambition into specific behaviors, audiences and adoption outcomes.
Behavioral strategy for complex change
Make change easier to adopt—and harder to lose.
We help leaders understand why people resist change, redesign the conditions shaping behavior, and build practical pathways from strategy to sustained adoption.
The client challenge
When the strategy is sound—but adoption is not.
A new technology, policy or sustainability initiative can make perfect sense on paper and still struggle in practice. People may understand the case for change but lack confidence, trust, capability, social permission or a workable path to act.
DeepWave helps clients identify what is getting in the way, decide where behavioral insight can make the greatest difference, and build solutions that work in the real world.
Understand the system
Identify the behavioral, organizational and contextual forces shaping current decisions.
Design for adoption
Create practical interventions, workflows and experiences that make change easier to enact.
Test and strengthen
Measure what changes, learn what works and strengthen the route to sustained impact.
How we help
Expert support at the moments that determine adoption.
Like leading behavioral consultancies, we combine insight, intervention, evaluation and capability building—but tailor the work to the realities of organizations operating in China and Asia.
Diagnose an Adoption Challenge
Understand where adoption is breaking down and which behavioral barriers matter most.
- Adoption diagnostics
- Behavioral journey mapping
- Barrier prioritization
Generate Decision-Ready Insight
Reveal not only what people say, but what shapes what they actually do.
- Mixed-method research
- Survey design & analysis
- Behavioral segmentation
Design and Test Solutions
Translate evidence into context-sensitive interventions, prototypes and implementation plans.
- Intervention architecture
- Rapid prototyping
- Field testing
Build Capability and Evidence
Equip teams to lead behavioral work and measure adoption, learning and real-world outcomes.
- Executive workshops
- Behavioral M&E
- Adaptive learning
Featured solution
AI transformation is a behavior change challenge.
Access does not equal adoption. We help organizations understand how leadership signals, workflows, confidence, trust and social norms shape whether employees use AI well—or avoid it.
PRIMARY PRODUCTEARLY ENGAGEMENTS
Workplace AI Adoption Diagnostic
A behaviorally informed diagnostic that shows where AI adoption is stalling, why different employee groups respond differently, and what leaders can do next.
Map adoption behaviors across roles and workflows
Identify capability, motivation, trust and norm barriers
Prioritize interventions and define measurable adoption indicators
Discuss an AI adoption diagnostic
AI ADOPTION SIGNALSDIAGNOSTIC VIEW
CAPABILITY
Can employees use AI effectively in real workflows?
TRUST & MOTIVATION
Do employees believe AI is useful, safe and worth the effort?
SOCIAL & SYSTEM CONDITIONS
Do leadership signals, norms and processes support responsible use?
CLIENT OUTPUT
Adoption map + behavioral segments + barrier priorities + intervention roadmap + measurement framework
Behavior Challenge Statement Generator
Helps teams translate broad issues into specific, observable behavioral challenges before designing solutions.
Request a preview ↗Intervention Intelligence Database
Search and compare behavioral interventions across issues, contexts, mechanisms and evidence levels.
Join the development network ↗Selected engagements
Contributing behavioral expertise where change is being shaped.
DeepWave brings behavioral design, facilitation and measurement perspectives to international programmes and cross-sector conversations on innovation, circularity and plastic pollution.
Helping plastic innovators design for real-world adoption
At the Global Plastics Innovation Workshop and Exhibition in Shenzhen, DeepWave co-facilitated an interactive session on reaching and expanding target markets through a behavioral lens.
Measuring the Impact: Behaviour Change for Plastic Pollution
DeepWave moderated a regional discussion on evidence, attribution and stronger behavioral M&E for plastic pollution initiatives across ASEAN.
View the official session page ↗Inclusive Behaviour Change for Waste Management
DeepWave presented a China hospitality case at an international workshop convening policymakers, researchers and practitioners from 21 nationalities.
Read the event coverage ↗
UNDPUNEP-IETCIGESERIA / RKC-MPD
Research & evidence
Credibility built through research, field testing and publication.
We distinguish current DeepWave work from the founder's prior and collaborative track record, while making the evidence behind both easy to examine.
01DEEPWAVE RESEARCH · REPORT IN DEVELOPMENT
China Consumer Attitudes and Behaviors on Reuse Survey
DeepWave leads the research design and data analysis to understand how Chinese consumers perceive, choose and sustain reuse behaviors.
02PEER-REVIEWED RESEARCH · 2025
From plate to prep: Designing behavioral intervention tools to reduce food waste
Co-authored by Shiyang Li. Field experiments found customer food-waste reductions of 29–54% and a 21.4% reduction among restaurant staff.
Read the published paper ↗03REGIONAL REPORT · FOUNDER CONTRIBUTION
Breaking the Plastic Habit in ASEAN: Phase II
Behavior-centered interventions and monitoring approaches across six countries, with Shiyang Li's expertise contributing to the analytical foundation.
Read the report ↗
20+YEARS OF
GLOBAL PRACTICE
GLOBAL PRACTICE
Meet the founder
Shiyang Li
Behavioral Science Leader · Sustainability Strategist
Shiyang brings more than two decades of experience translating behavioral evidence into practical strategies for environmental and social impact across China and Asia.
Her work spans behavioral research, intervention design, capacity building and impact evaluation. She previously built and led Rare's work in China, and contributed to regional initiatives addressing plastic pollution, food waste and sustainable consumption.
At DeepWave, she combines that experience with emerging AI-enabled methods to help clients diagnose adoption challenges, design better solutions and demonstrate measurable change.
Connect with Shiyang on LinkedIn ↗Start a conversation
What change are you trying to make possible?
Talk with us about AI adoption, behavioral research, sustainability strategy, intervention design, impact measurement or an international collaboration.
lishiyang@deepwave.xin