Opening : Suppose that you are thinking about which one would work better as a coffee table in your living room. What would you say are the dimensions of the two tables? Take a guess at the ratio of the length to the width of each. Just eyeball it.
[They’re identical, try measuring them with a ruler]
What I learnt : Nudges are subtle actions that make it easier for us to choose the right thing. They are most useful when we have complex choices or when the future is at stake. Defaults are highly effective nudges because they require the least effort.
Two systems of thinking
• Automatic system (System 1*)
• Reflective system (System 2*)
*in Thinking, Fast and Slow
Stimulus-response compatibility : You want the signal (the stimulus) you receive to be consistent with the desired action. When there are inconsistencies, performance suffers and people blunder.
For stuff like “Name the colour not the word”, the response time slows because the automatic system reads the word faster than the colour naming system can decide the colour of the text.
Be a choice architect, design a system so as to indirectly influence the choices people make, ideally towards positive outcomes. There’re 6 principles of good choice architecture.
• iNcentives
• Understand mappings
• Defaults
• Give feedback
• Expect Error
• Structure complex choices
Mapping: A good system of choice architecture helps people to improve their ability to map and hence to select options that will make them better off. One way to do this is to make the information about various options more comprehensible, by transforming numerical info into units that translate more readily into actual use.
Default: People will take whatever options require the least effort (path of least resistance) and will generally end up with the default option, whether or not it’s good for them.
Expect Error: Humans make mistake. A well-designed system expects its users to err and is as forgiving as possible like placebo pills in a birth control pack.
Structure complex choices: When the choice set gets large, we use simplifying strategies like compensatory strategy, elimination by aspects and collaborative filtering. And these can get us into trouble because choice architects are much more likely to influence choices. Good choice architecture will provide structure, and structure will affect outcomes like choosing movies on Netflix.
Quote
Sometimes it’s good to learn what people unlike us like and to see whether we might even like that.
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