Some apps or websites are beautiful, stylish, and well thought out in terms of UX, but have one problem: they are boring. These products can trigger both desire and resistance in the user at the same time. Here are a few tricks that will help solve this problem not from a rational, but from an emotional side.
Nudging and manipulation in modern society, driven by advancements in technology and behavioral sciences, are pervasive. However, there are ways for individuals to resist and develop immunity to these persuasion tactics. By being forewarned, recognizing manipulation attempts, and undergoing debiasing interventions, individuals can better protect themselves. Additionally, they can avoid vulnerable moments, utilize avoidant resistance, and listen to their intuition. While escaping all influences is impossible, individuals can still choose their influencers and free their minds from undue manipulation.
In the digital age, technology has made life more convenient but has also led to the outsourcing of essential skills. The rise of ChatGPT, an AI language model, which offers multiple incredible abilities including enhanced writing abilities, raises the concern that it may diminish our ability to express ourselves properly and complete a task all by ourselves. Like the "Google Effect", we risk relying on AI to the point of losing our writing prowess and cognitive skills. To harness the benefits without sacrificing other skills, we must strike a balance between utilizing AI tools and nurturing our own abilities.
A potentially valuable feature of AI applied in the legal field is identifying insightful patterns of how specific courts and judges operate that elude human cognition. However, we should never forget that the relationship between humans and algorithms is always reflexive, and we can easily corrupt our quantitative-based prediction algorithms with biases.
Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as smart watches, smart energy meters, and telematics devices have great potential for changing risky behaviors. These devices collect data about behaviors and replay it to consumers to inspire action. But there are considerations for behavioral scientists if this technology is going to be successful as a behavior change tool. This article discusses three considerations and how behavioral scientists can help to unlock the behavior change potential of IoT.
Mis- and disinformation about the U.S. electoral process has caused massive disruptions in voting behavior and reduced trust in American democracy. There have been a handful of attempts to combat the deleterious effects of misinformation on the public. Recent research suggests that online games, which teach players about strategies used by mis- and disinformation spreaders through a method called attitude inoculation, can help build resistance against manipulative news content.
Dark patterns, the “sludges” of the digital world, aim to distort consumers’ decision-making process. Dark patterns powered by machine learning represent an even higher threat, in that they don’t just trick users to do something, but alter human behavior in a durable, undetectable, and indefensible way. This article examines the main issues linked to machine learning powered dark patterns and seeks to outline possible solutions.
Targeting the right customers with the right message is one of the most established strategic goals in marketing. However, traditional approaches to targeting can often end up being ineffective and sometimes even harmful to brands. In this article, we discuss a framework for social media targeting based on insights from behavioral biology.
How do you use a referral program to motivate people? We ran a large-scale experiment aimed at increasing referral volumes at our staffing company. The details of the experiment were motivated by concepts in behavioral science, specifically something called present bias. Many of our colleagues were surprised by what we found.
Effective digital health interventions may need to address a broad set of barriers in order to help a diverse population change behaviors. Layering the Double Diamond model of design with a behavioral design process ensures the inclusion of a comprehensive set of behavior change techniques in an intervention. Coupled with personalization technology, this approach can make digital health more equitable.
