Showing the Future Self

# Improved Text Decisions about the future are difficult. They require choosing saving over consuming, prevention over pleasure, and long-term benefits over immediate rewards. The future self often feels like a stranger. The question is: How can we reduce the psychological distance to our own future, and does doing so influence today's decisions—and what evidence exists for this?

Studies

The Aged Avatar Experiment

Hal Hershfield and his team at Stanford University conducted a groundbreaking virtual reality experiment in 2011. Fifty students interacted with digital avatars—half saw their own face aged to 70 years old, the other half saw their current face. Afterward, all participants faced a real decision: take $1,000 immediately or set aside a portion for retirement. The group that viewed the aged avatar saved twice as much money ($172 versus $80). Remarkably, just five minutes with their "future self" measurably changed actual financial decisions.

The Brain Scan Experiment

In 2009, Ersner-Hershfield, Wimmer, and Knutson placed 28 subjects in an fMRI scanner and showed them three word lists: attributes describing themselves, their future self in 10 years, and a complete stranger. The astonishing result: When thinking about their future self, the same brain regions activated as when thinking about the stranger, not their present self. The only difference was 10 years of time. Nevertheless, the brain treated the future self like an unknown person. The greater this neural difference, the more strongly participants preferred immediate rewards.

Field experiment with working professionals

In 2011, Hershfield tested his theory with 245 working professionals aged 23 to 72. All participants were asked to imagine and write about their life in retirement. One group was instructed to visualize concrete details: Where would they live? What would they do daily? What would their everyday life look like? The control group thought about retirement only in general terms. Three months later, the results showed that the visualization group had increased their actual pension contributions by 2.3%, while the control group increased theirs by only 0.4%. The emotional connection to the future self translated into tangible saving behavior.

Principle

Which principle for Customer Experience Design can be derived from this? Visualizing future consequences improves long-term decision-making by reducing the psychological distance between one's present and future self. When customers can concretely envision their future self—whether through age-progression photos, simulations, or emotional scenarios—abstract future concepts transform into tangible realities that trigger genuine motivation to act. This effect works particularly well for products and services with long-term benefits, such as insurance, retirement planning, or health programs, but loses effectiveness when the visualization appears overly dramatic or unrealistic. The following guidelines demonstrate how to implement this principle in practice.

Guidelines

Show future scenarios concretely

Create personalized future scenarios using customer data and visualize concrete impacts: "With your current behavior, your retirement will look like this—with this alternative, it will look like this." Translate long-term benefits into immediate emotional rewards. The following examples illustrate this guideline:

• Prudential: The 'Bring Your Challenges' campaign features real people confronting future life situations—retirement, children's education, caregiving. The message isn't 'Save more' but rather 'Envision who you will become'.
• Bank of America: The 'Face Retirement' calculator allowed users to age their own face while simultaneously projecting their future savings situation. The emotional connection to their aged self increased their intentions to save.

Letter from the Future Self

Have customers write a letter to their future self—or receive one from their future self. This exercise strengthens future self-continuity and encourages long-term decision-making. It's particularly effective for insurance, savings plans, health programs, and education services. The following examples illustrate this guideline:

• FutureMe: The service enables writing emails to one's future self. Financial service providers can leverage this mechanism: 'Write to yourself why you're starting to save today.'
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: The 'Future Self Tool' includes the exercise 'Letter from Your Future Self' – a 68-year-old version of yourself writes to your present self, expressing gratitude for wise decisions made today.