The Behavioral Design Podcast

In this episode, we're thrilled to host Nick Chater, an esteemed Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business School. Nick is a leading figure in his field, focusing his research on the cognitive and social foundations of rationality. He is the co-founder and Director of the research consultancy Decision Technology Ltd, and has written engaging books like "The Language Game: How Improvisation Created Language and Changed the World" and "The Mind is Flat: The Remarkable Shallowness of the Improvising Brain".

Join us as we delve into a captivating conversation with Nick on the application of behavioral science to public policy. We discuss the fascinating interplay between various branches of behavioral science and their implications in real-world policy decisions, bridging the gap between theory and practice. For our product deep-dive, we navigate the intriguing world of autonomous vehicles, examining their design and impact through the lens of behavioral science. In addition, we explore Nick's provocative paper co-authored with George Loewenstein on I frames vs. S frames.

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In this episode we are delighted to welcome Paul Bloom, a distinguished developmental psychologist and Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto. Paul has authored seven books, including Aginst Empathy and his most recent, Psych: The Story of the Human Mind. He is one of the leading thinkers in psychology and has dedicated his career to exploring how people, both children and adults, make sense of the world through language, morality, pleasure, pain, and religion.

Join us as we engage in a thought-provoking conversation with Paul about the different subfields of psychology and what they can bring to the real world, from neuroscience to developmental psychology, cognitive, social, and clinical. This discussion evolves into a stimulating debate on the extent to which academia can truly contribute to industry.

For our product deep-dive, we challenge Paul to consider how concepts and methods from behavioral science could be used to improve the Bible, and delve into his perspective on the age-old question of nature versus nurture in shaping our lives. This episode should be a fascinating listen for anyone interested in the human mind, behavioral science, and the intersection between academia and industry.

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Welcome to the latest Product Deep Dive! 🎤

In this fun bonus series of the Behavioral Design Podcast, we take a closer look at products discussed in past episodes of the show. In this episode, we are discussing the product "Conferences", following up on our conversation with Dave Pizarro from last week.

Tune in to learn more about how we would re-design conferences, what they have in common with weddings, and what we can learn from this as behavioral designers. Happy listening!

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Welcome to the latest Product Deep Dive! 🤿

In this new series of the Behavioral Design Podcast, we take a closer look at products discussed in past episodes of the show. In this episode, we are discussing the product "toothbrush", following up on our conversation with Heather Cole-Lewis from last week.

Tune in to learn more about how we would re-design a toothbrush, and what we can learn from this as behavioral designers.

*This episode was scheduled for Wednesday, but was delayed due to technical difficulties. Thank you for your patience!

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In the latest episode of the Behavioral Design Podcast, we are thrilled to have Heather Cole-Lewis, a renowned Behavioral Epidemiologist and Health Equity Clinical Scientist at Google. Heather is best known for her groundbreaking Big E, little e framework in the realm of digital health interventions.

Join us as we dive into an engaging discussion with Heather about the intricacies of engagement in digital health interventions, including a deep dive into her Big E, little e model. Heather shares her unique insights on redesigning a product we all use on a daily basis, demonstrating a targeted approach that considers factors such as a person's background, goals, and specific context.

We also explore the challenges of addressing health disparities and the importance of a more equitable approach to intervention development. Finally, Heather enlightens us on the significance of making a strong business case for behavioral science. This episode promises to be a captivating listen for anyone interested in digital health, behavioral science, and creating equitable solutions.

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Welcome to the latest Product Deep Dive! 🤿

In this new series of the Behavioral Design Podcast, we take a closer look at products discussed in past episodes of the show. In this episode, we are discussing the product of "personality tests", following up on our enlightening conversation with Sanjay Srivastava. Aline and Samuel explore their own experience with these tests, their practical applications, and the insights we can gain from them.

Tune in to learn more about the role personality tests play in understanding ourselves and others, and how we should think about them as behavioral designers.

In this episode, we have a fascinating conversation with Sanjay Srivastava, widely regarded as one of the world's leading personality experts. We explore various aspects of personality, from the famous Harry Potter house sorting to the intriguing curly fry problem. We delve into the impact of friction on user experience and outcomes, intentional and unintentional, and the potential of interventions based on personality traits.

We also examine the stability of personality as a construct and discuss the design and use of corporate personality tests. As you'll notice, we shift our perspectives throughout the conversation, and the discussion takes unexpected turns. We are sure this should make for an engaging listen for anyone interested in the science of personality.

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Welcome to The Behavioral Design Podcast's newest series, Product Deep Dives! 🎉

In this series, we take a closer look at products discussed in past episodes of the show. In this episode, we are discussing the product of "co-living spaces" having been discussed with our guest, Laurie Santos, on an earlier episode. Aline and Samuel take a deeper look at the behavioral science of co-living spaces and share their own thoughts and experiences of shared living.

Tune in to learn more about how co-living spaces are designed to foster positive behavior, and how the concept can be applied to other spaces too.

In this episode, we speak with Laurie Santos, Professor at Yale. In addition to her research on primate decision-making, Laurie is an expert on the science of well-being. Her teachings on the psychology of the good life are some of the most popular of all time at Yale and on Coursera. She also has a free curriculum for high schools, and she even has her own podcast. 

We chatted with Laurie about shared living spaces and the importance of being social (even when we don’t feel like being social!). We also compare happiness with psychological richness, and the pros and cons of self-monitoring. And as a special bonus, you get to hear Laurie’s expert rendition of a primate’s pant-hoot.

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We're finally back! 🎉 In this season 3 preview episode, we sit down and nerd out about all things Behavioral Science and AI, the state of the field and what we look forward to in the upcoming season. 

Thanks to you, our listeners, for patiently waiting for us to return and for supporting this podcast! We really appreciate it 😊🙏

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We've reached the end of season 2 - yay! 🎉 In this finale, we sit down and nerd out about all things behavioral as an intervention to help Aline overcome her recent existential crisis. We explore what we have learned about human behavior in 2021, whether being happy is important, ethical challenges in the field, how we can create a bigger impact, and, our course, we complete a final round of overrated vs. underrated.

Thanks to you, our listeners for supporting us this year! We really appreciate it 😊🙏

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Effective Altruism

In this episode, we speak with Irrational Labs' Lindsay Juarez about big questions in behavioral science, how to reduce misinformation on TikTok, and the importance of communities.

Lindsay is Director at Irrational Labs, working on understanding and improving people's ability to take the daily behaviors that lead to happier, healthier, and wealthier lives. She was previously Senior Behavioral Researcher roles at the Center for Advanced Hindsight and has long experience helping companies use data and behavioral science insights to create and test more effective products and processes to drive behavior change.

We had a fun conversation with Lindsay about everything existential in behavioral science, including the real impact of our field and how necessary are experiments, really? She also shares insights from a recent project aimed at reducing misinformation on TikTok. Enjoy!

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In this episode, we speak with Ingrid Melvær Paulin about all things digital health behavior, Gamification, and the right behavior change metrics.

Ingrid is Director of Behavioral Insights at UnitedHealth Group. She applied behavioral science across vast areas of digital health behavior change, including previously being Director of Behavioral Insights at Rally Health and holding Senior Behavioral Researcher roles at the Center for Advanced Hindsight and Irrational Labs. She's also an amazing skier.

We had a fun conversation with Ingrid about everything digital health behavior and beyond, including the importance of focusing on the right behaviors, ways Gamification can backfire, her famous spreadsheet of BS companies around the world, and much more. Enjoy!

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In this episode, we speak with Eric J. Johnson about all things choice architecture and choice engines.

Eric is professor at Columbia Business School at Columbia University and Director of the Center for Decision Sciences. His recently published book The Elements of Choice is a fascinating exploration of decision-making research revealing how choices are designed—and why it’s so important to understand their inner workings.

We had a fun conversation with Eric about everything choice architecture and beyond, including how to provide the right amount of options, the attributes of a good choice engine, and that there's no neutral choice architecture – the environment is always influencing our decisions one way or another. We also ask Eric to redesign popular digital products, including Tinder, Netflix, and Amazon. 

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In this episode, we speak with the fantastic research duo Gabrielle Adams and Leidy Klotz about their work on the science of less: subtraction.

Their research on the science of problem-solving has identified this fascinating bias against subtraction. In other words, when we solve problems, we tend to favor adding things over subtracting things, even when subtraction offers a better solution. We have a massive subtraction blindspot.

We had a great discussion, exploring all aspects of subtraction, from their research to tips for how teams and individuals can overcome it and why "jeggings" are severely underrated. Enjoy!

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In this episode, we speak with Liz Fosslien about how to make work better using nudges (and feelings!). 

Liz is the co-author and illustrator of the Wall Street Journal best-selling book No Hard Feelings and she's an expert on how to make work better. As the Head of Content at Humu, she uses behavioral science to help leaders and their teams make meaningful improvements. She's also a master illustrator and we'd be surprised if you haven't seen her "sprinkles of insights" across your social media feeds.

We have a wonderful discussion, exploring how to make work life better, managing #WFH, why we might benefit from being less passionate about work and how the nudge engine at Humu helps people work together better. 

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In this episode, we speak with none other than Dan Ariely.

In this episode, we speak with Jay Van Bavel about all things identity.

Jay is Professor at NYU and Director of the Social Identity & Morality Lab. His book "The Power of Us," co-authored with Dominic Packer, was just released on September 7th. It's a fascinating read that looks into how we can understand and harness our shared identities for personal and collective success.

In this episode, we have a fun conversation with Jay about everything identity, including why we contain multitudes and how the social needs of belonging, uniqueness and status impact our identity. We also discuss how identity can be a double-edged sword, both able to spark unity and (sometimes) create division, and why bumper stickers are overrated.

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In this episode, we speak with Ashley Whillans on time and how to spend it well ⏰.

Ashley is a Professor at Harvard and author of Time Smart: How to Reclaim Your Time and Live a Happier Life. She's got a Ph.D. in Social Psychology and is an expert on time and how to spend it well. Her research investigates whether and how intangible incentives, such as experiential and time-saving rewards, affect employee motivation and well-being. She also works with organizations to help employees overcome time stress and thrive in their lives in and outside of the workplace.

In this episode, we have a fun conversation with Ashley about her book, including discussing her research on people's perception of time and decision making, how to design better products and services based on these insights, and how to best decline an invitation (you're welcome). We hope you enjoy the episode!

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In this episode, we're speaking with behavioral science superstar Katy Milkman ⭐️

Katy has one of the most impressive resumes in the field – She's a professor at UPenn, Co-founder of the Behavior Change for Good Initiative with Angela Duckworth, Host of Choiceology podcast (much more refined than ours), and Author of a new book: How to Change: The Science of Getting From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be.

Some of our favorite research from Katy includes Fresh Start Effect, Temptation Bundling, Implementation Intentions, and most recently, she's pioneered the mega-study (what works to promote exercise, vaccination)

In this episode, we have a fun conversation with Katy about her book, including discussing personalization, temptation bundling, and what type of interventions are most effective. We also talk about her recent study on regret lotteries in Philly + much more! 

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We're back with Season 2 - yay! We start the new season with a bang as our first guest is none other than Emily Oster. 🎉 

Besides being Aline's favorite person to follow, Emily is an economics professor at Brown University and a thought-leader on data-driven parenting. She has written several best-selling books on pregnancy and parenting, all centered around a specific goal: creating a world of more relaxed pregnant women and parents.

In this episode, we have a fun conversation with Emily about her latest book, The Family Firm (out today!). We learn about her fantastic 4 Fs framework, discuss salience of risk and how that impacts decision-making, learn what science communication often gets wrong, AND why Summersalt swimwear is underrated.

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We've reached the end of season 1 - yay! 🎉 In this finale, we sit down and nerd out about all things behavioral as Aline is welcomed back from her baby cave. We explore the growing landscape of behavioral associations, the recent attempts to incentivize vaccine uptake, we languish on languishing, talk faulty risk perceptions, and, our course, complete a final round of overrated vs. underrated. 

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Recently launched behavioral associations and groups (and their abbreviations):  

Matt Johnson is a professor, researcher, and writer specializing in the application of neuroscience and psychology to the business world and Prince Ghuman is an experienced marketer with great experience of applying neuroscience to marketing and business strategy. Together they've written the book Blindsight: The (Mostly) Hidden Ways Marketing Reshapes Our Brain.

In this episode, we have a fun conversation with Matt and Prince about what the heck "Blindsight" is and what it has to do with decision-making, we dive into the ethics around using behavioral science for good (and for less obviously good “marketing” purposes) and how we can solve the thorny problem of tech addiction.

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Kelly Peters is the CEO and Co-founder of BEworks, and one of the leading voices in the world of Applied Behavioral Economics. Kelly has done some fantastic work in the field and she's a firm believer that when applied properly, scientific thinking has the power to transform society. 

In this episode, Kelly shares her journey into behavioral economics, how BEworks approach their client work, challenges related to COVID-19, and much more. Hope you enjoy the episode!

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Maya Shankar is the Senior Director of Behavioral Economics at Google and previously served as a Senior Advisor in the Obama White House, where she founded and served as Chair of the White House's Behavioral Science Team. For good measure, she also served as the first Behavioral Science Advisor to the United Nations. Most recently, Maya launched "A Slight Change of Plans," a fantastic new podcast with Pushkin Industries.

In this episode, Maya shares her journey into behavioral science and highlights along the way, including the importance of her mentors, reminiscing about her time leading the White House's Behavioral Science Team, and whether it's harder to change minds or change behaviors. 

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Logan Ury is a behavioral scientist-turned dating coach and Hinge’s Director of Relationship Science. She recently published How to Not Die Alone – a fantastic book on the surprising science that will help you find love. 

We speak about all things behavioral science and modern love, including how Hinge designs the app to be deleted and common cognitive biases in dating. We also talk about how Logan became the lead of Google’s behavioral science and was later able to build a successful career combining her passion for behavioral science and relationship science. Hope you love it!

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Interested in learning more about how Behavioral Economics can be used in practice? Great, this episode is for you! It features a fun conversation with Melina Palmer, one of the leading experts in applied Behavioral Economics. Melina is the founder and CEO of the Brainy Business, teaches Applied BE at Texas A&M University and recently published her first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You. 

We speak about her journey and how she built her Brainy Business podcast and community, how she supports her clients to ask better questions, important principles regarding pricing, and we talk cookies! Enjoy! 🍪

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This episode features an insightful conversation with decision-making rockstar Annie Duke. Annie barely needs an introduction, she's the best-selling author of Thinking in Bets, and most recently, How to Decide. She has made it her pursuit to help us understand how we make decisions and provide us with concrete steps and tools for improving our decision making process. 

We cover several interesting topics, including Annie's journey from academia, to professional poker, to consulting and back to research. We also cover why it's so difficult to update our beliefs, why we should hone our archer's mindset, and much more. The episode even includes a special guest. Enjoy!

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This episode features a profound conversation with world-renowned neuroscientist and psychologist Lisa Feldman Barrett. Lisa is among the top 1% of most-cited scientists in the world, with over 240 peer-reviewed scientific papers contributing to her revolutionary research in psychology and neuroscience. Outside of the lab, she's a best-selling author and her popular TED talk has more than 6 million views. TLDR: Lisa is a rockstar 🤘.

We cover several interesting topics, including why your brain is not for thinking, how prediction becomes reality, why most people are wrong in how they think about emotions, the best type of chocolate (spoiler: dark), and much more. Enjoy!

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This episode features an insightful conversation with Dr. Clare Purvis, Director of Behavioral Science at Headspace. Clare is a clinical psychologist with extensive experience working in health technology, translating clinical evidence into commercially viable, engaging, and innovative digital products.

We cover several interesting topics, including how Clare transitioned from academia to the start-up world, how we can building systems of behavior change in organizations, what makes a good onboarding, and how to design for mindfulness. Enjoy!

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This episode features an insightful conversation with the fantastic Nina Mažar. Nina has been part of founding BEworks, BEAR (Behavioral Economics in Action at Rotman center), and the World Banks' behavioral science team. She is currently professor of marketing and co-director of the Susilo Institute for Ethics in the Global Economy at Boston University. 

We cover several interesting topics, including how Nina got started in the field, three pieces of advice for starting a behavioral science unit, nudging for diversity and honesty, plus what to get next time you're ordering Balkan food. Enjoy!

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This episode is special. It features a conversation with the world-renowned habit researcher, Wendy Wood. Wendy has devoted the last 30 years to researching how habits work and recently published the fantastic book Good Habits, Bad Habits.

The episode is packed with insights, and we cover all things habits, from the difference between habits vs. routines to the impact of reward and context on habit formation. If you're curious to understand habits better, this episode is for you!

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