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{ "episode": { "guest": "Kristen Berman", "expertise_tags": [ "Behavioral Economics", "Behavioral Design", "Product Design", "Behavior Change", "User Psychology", "Conversion Optimization", "Behavioral Science" ], "summary": "Kristen Berman, CEO and co-founder of Irrational Labs, discusses how behavioral science and economics can be applied to product design and user engagement. She explains the three Bs framework (Behavior, Barriers, Benefits) for driving behavior change and shares case studies from companies like TikTok, One Medical, and others. The conversation covers common cognitive biases, unintuitive product insights, and practical tactics for improving conversion flows and user activation.", "key_frameworks": [ "Three Bs Framework (Behavior, Barriers, Benefits)", "Behavioral Diagnosis", "Right for Wrong", "Hot and Cold States", "Status Quo Effect", "Present Bias", "Uncertainty Aversion", "Rules of Thumb", "Completion Bias" ] }, "topics": [ { "id": "topic_1", "title": "Introduction to Behavioral Economics and Design", "summary": "Foundational explanation of behavioral economics as a combination of psychology and economics, contrasting with traditional rational economics. Covers how people make predictable irrational decisions and how these insights can be applied to product design.", "timestamp_start": "00:00", "timestamp_end": "06:51", "line_start": 1, "line_end": 60 }, { "id": "topic_2", "title": "Surprise Finding: Budgeting Feature Failure", "summary": "Case study of a FinTech app where the most-requested budgeting feature failed to drive behavior change despite 10,000-person test. Explores why mapping out behavioral steps reveals that budgeting is too cognitively difficult and introduces the concept of behavioral diagnosis.", "timestamp_start": "06:51", "timestamp_end": "10:46", "line_start": 61, "line_end": 81 }, { "id": "topic_3", "title": "Alternatives to Budgeting: Defaults and Rules of Thumb", "summary": "Discussion of more effective approaches to personal finance management including using defaults (like automatic 401k enrollment) and rules of thumb that reduce cognitive load rather than requiring active decision-making.", "timestamp_start": "09:26", "timestamp_end": "11:35", "line_start": 76, "line_end": 86 }, { "id": "topic_4", "title": "Increasing Friction in Signup Flows to Increase Conversion", "summary": "Counterintuitive finding that adding friction (strategic questions) to signup flows can increase conversion by making users think about benefits. Introduces the concept of asking questions to activate thinking about benefits rather than reducing friction.", "timestamp_start": "11:40", "timestamp_end": "16:09", "line_start": 91, "line_end": 135 }, { "id": "topic_5", "title": "Kristen's Background and Journey into Behavioral Economics", "summary": "Kristen shares how she discovered behavioral economics while working as a PM at Intuit, met Dan Ariely, and founded Irrational Labs. Discusses the embedded team at Google and the evolution of the consulting practice.", "timestamp_start": "16:09", "timestamp_end": "19:13", "line_start": 136, "line_end": 165 }, { "id": "topic_6", "title": "The Three Bs Framework: Behavior, Barriers, Benefits", "summary": "Introduction to the foundational three Bs framework for behavior change. Behavior: defining specific, measurable target behaviors. Barriers: identifying logistical and cognitive obstacles. Benefits: ensuring immediate, tangible benefits are visible to users.", "timestamp_start": "18:21", "timestamp_end": "24:47", "line_start": 163, "line_end": 221 }, { "id": "topic_7", "title": "Cognitive Biases: Uncertainty Aversion, Status Quo Effect, Optimism Bias", "summary": "Deep dive into specific cognitive biases that affect user behavior including uncertainty aversion (not wanting to take action when uncertain), status quo effect (preference for current state), and how these biases create barriers to desired behaviors.", "timestamp_start": "20:01", "timestamp_end": "22:02", "line_start": 169, "line_end": 182 }, { "id": "topic_8", "title": "Present Bias and Immediate Benefits in Product Design", "summary": "Exploration of present bias (prioritizing immediate gratification over long-term gains) and how to design products that provide immediate benefits alongside long-term value. Examples include completion bias and social desirability.", "timestamp_start": "22:05", "timestamp_end": "24:47", "line_start": 187, "line_end": 221 }, { "id": "topic_9", "title": "Ethics and Incentive Alignment in Behavioral Design", "summary": "Discussion of the potential dark side of behavioral design and the importance of aligning incentives with customer outcomes. Personal example of nearly becoming a 'predatory lender' at LendingClub due to misaligned incentives.", "timestamp_start": "24:47", "timestamp_end": "28:25", "line_start": 223, "line_end": 270 }, { "id": "topic_10", "title": "TikTok Case Study: Reducing Misinformation Sharing", "summary": "In-depth case study of reducing misinformation sharing on TikTok by 24% through adding friction (unverified labels and confirmation popups). Covers the process of literature review, hypothesis development, and quantitative testing.", "timestamp_start": "29:32", "timestamp_end": "35:14", "line_start": 280, "line_end": 350 }, { "id": "topic_11", "title": "Research Process: Literature Review, Testing, and Validation", "summary": "Detailed explanation of how Irrational Labs approaches research including literature review via Google Scholar, hypothesis development, quantitative user testing on platforms like Prolific, and comparative testing methodology.", "timestamp_start": "32:03", "timestamp_end": "34:44", "line_start": 316, "line_end": 333 }, { "id": "topic_12", "title": "One Medical Case Study: Appointment Booking Optimization", "summary": "Case study of increasing appointment bookings by 20% during onboarding through guided choice architecture, provider recommendations, and limited appointment time slots with focus on virtual same-day appointments.", "timestamp_start": "35:44", "timestamp_end": "40:14", "line_start": 361, "line_end": 416 }, { "id": "topic_13", "title": "Most Successful Conversion Optimization Tactics", "summary": "Overview of commonly effective patterns in conversion optimization including showing benefits immediately, reducing cognitive and logistical friction, using reminders, and landing users back at their stopping point.", "timestamp_start": "38:31", "timestamp_end": "42:17", "line_start": 397, "line_end": 426 }, { "id": "topic_14", "title": "Right for Wrong: Motivation Through Unexpected Benefits", "summary": "Detailed exploration of the 'Right for Wrong' concept where the intended behavior (right thing) is motivated by immediate, unexpected benefits (wrong reason). Examples include vaccine incentives, voting pizza, and Peloton instructor shoutouts.", "timestamp_start": "42:42", "timestamp_end": "46:07", "line_start": 442, "line_end": 456 }, { "id": "topic_15", "title": "Behavioral Diagnosis: Mapping Steps and Psychology", "summary": "Explanation of behavioral diagnosis methodology as a 'journey map on steroids' that maps every step required for behavior change and overlays relevant psychological barriers. Emphasis on understanding what people actually do versus what they say.", "timestamp_start": "47:06", "timestamp_end": "49:33", "line_start": 466, "line_end": 483 }, { "id": "topic_16", "title": "Irrational Labs Bootcamp Course and Learning Options", "summary": "Overview of Irrational Labs' educational offerings including an 8-week self-paced bootcamp course with modules, homework, Slack community, office hours, and the Sweet 16 biases framework. Discussion of group and team-based learning options.", "timestamp_start": "49:45", "timestamp_end": "52:01", "line_start": 485, "line_end": 507 }, { "id": "topic_17", "title": "Lightning Round: Books, Podcasts, and Recommendations", "summary": "Quick-fire recommendations including books (Predictably Irrational, Influence, Darwin Economy), podcasts (Science of Change, No Stupid Questions), and TV shows (The Rehearsal). Discussion of interview philosophy and respect for Chris York.", "timestamp_start": "52:05", "timestamp_end": "55:47", "line_start": 509, "line_end": 581 } ], "insights": [ { "id": "i1", "text": "People make decisions with lots of emotion, following social norms and present bias, but they do these things in predictable ways that can be understood and changed", "context": "Foundational principle that behavioral economics shows human irrationality is systematic rather than random", "topic_id": "topic_1", "line_start": 1, "line_end": 60 }, { "id": "i2", "text": "Most requested features often fail because teams don't map out the behavioral steps required, making them too cognitively or logistically complex", "context": "Lesson from the budgeting feature case study that showed 0 impact despite being the most requested feature", "topic_id": "topic_2", "line_start": 64, "line_end": 68 }, { "id": "i3", "text": "Adding work that users have to do should be met with extreme skepticism - you must prove it's worth their time and measure if they actually do it", "context": "Counter to intuition that adding features increases value; in practice, features requiring user effort often go unused", "topic_id": "topic_2", "line_start": 73, "line_end": 74 }, { "id": "i4", "text": "Defaults are the first line of defense for behavior change - automatic enrollment increased 401k adoption dramatically", "context": "Most powerful behavioral lever for driving adoption without requiring user decision-making", "topic_id": "topic_3", "line_start": 79, "line_end": 80 }, { "id": "i5", "text": "Simple rules of thumb are more adherent than complex optimization - 'I don't take Lyft on weekdays' works better than weighing pros and cons each time", "context": "Heuristics reduce cognitive load and increase behavior consistency over time", "topic_id": "topic_3", "line_start": 79, "line_end": 81 }, { "id": "i6", "text": "Behavior is driven by what you actually do, not by attitudes or goals - identity and environment redesign matter more than motivation", "context": "Reframes why self-help often fails: goals alone are insufficient without environmental design", "topic_id": "topic_3", "line_start": 85, "line_end": 86 }, { "id": "i7", "text": "Asking strategic questions during signup can increase conversion by making users think about benefits, even though it adds friction", "context": "Contradicts conventional wisdom that friction always reduces conversion; activation of benefit thinking is more powerful than friction reduction", "topic_id": "topic_4", "line_start": 92, "line_end": 111 }, { "id": "i8", "text": "Quiz completion followed by 53% purchase rate vs 37% for non-completion shows that engaging users with benefit-oriented questions dramatically increases conversion", "context": "Specific data point from TytoCare device sales showing quantified impact of benefit engagement", "topic_id": "topic_4", "line_start": 112, "line_end": 113 }, { "id": "i9", "text": "Trunk Club achieved 133% conversion increase by asking questions that engaged users with benefits rather than telling them benefits", "context": "Demonstrates the power of active engagement over passive information presentation", "topic_id": "topic_4", "line_start": 110, "line_end": 110 }, { "id": "i10", "text": "Open-ended questions in flows are harder than multi-choice or dropdown questions - avoid open text fields unless necessary", "context": "Practical guidance that easy questions work better than hard ones for engagement", "topic_id": "topic_4", "line_start": 125, "line_end": 128 }, { "id": "i11", "text": "Specific behavior definition is so critical that if your team isn't arguing about it, you're not being specific enough", "context": "Defines the rigor required for the first B - behavior must be uncomfortably specific", "topic_id": "topic_6", "line_start": 203, "line_end": 203 }, { "id": "i12", "text": "Uncertainty aversion causes users to either abandon decisions or seek alternatives - removing uncertainty is as important as removing friction", "context": "Explains why Lyft users open Uber when uncertain about wait time; uncertainty drives option-seeking", "topic_id": "topic_7", "line_start": 175, "line_end": 176 }, { "id": "i13", "text": "Status quo effect means people naturally do what they did yesterday - when asking users to do something different, you must increase motivation or reduce barriers", "context": "Fundamental challenge for any product trying to drive behavior change from current habits", "topic_id": "topic_7", "line_start": 181, "line_end": 182 }, { "id": "i14", "text": "Present bias means users prioritize their present selves - you must give them a reason to take action today, not tomorrow or in the future", "context": "Why long-term benefits are insufficient motivators; immediate gratification matters more", "topic_id": "topic_8", "line_start": 188, "line_end": 188 }, { "id": "i15", "text": "Completion bias and social desirability bias are more immediate motivators than the actual long-term benefits of using a product", "context": "In Asana, seeing the checkbox and others seeing your work matters more than eventual project completion", "topic_id": "topic_8", "line_start": 191, "line_end": 191 }, { "id": "i16", "text": "Misaligned incentives can turn do-good teams into unethical actors - the incentive structure matters more than team intentions", "context": "Example of LendingClub where aggressive conversion targets almost made consultant suggest predatory lending", "topic_id": "topic_9", "line_start": 227, "line_end": 239 }, { "id": "i17", "text": "Setting incentives on behavior rather than on retention or active use leads to more customer-friendly products", "context": "Key recommendation for aligning organizational incentives with customer value", "topic_id": "topic_9", "line_start": 245, "line_end": 245 }, { "id": "i18", "text": "Longer-term incentive horizons (annual vs quarterly) cause teams to optimize for long-term customer interests rather than short-term metrics", "context": "Structural way to prevent short-term optimization that harms customer relationships", "topic_id": "topic_9", "line_start": 248, "line_end": 248 }, { "id": "i19", "text": "Reminding people about their value of accuracy at the point of sharing decreases misinformation sharing - timing of the intervention is critical", "context": "Doesn't work before or after decision moment; must trigger right at decision point", "topic_id": "topic_10", "line_start": 317, "line_end": 317 }, { "id": "i20", "text": "Slowing down hot states (fast emotional decisions) can reduce unintended consequences - making users reconsider decisions works", "context": "TikTok's popup approach creates cognitive friction that leads to 24% reduction in misinformation sharing", "topic_id": "topic_10", "line_start": 305, "line_end": 305 }, { "id": "i21", "text": "Multiple design variations should be tested with users before product launch to de-risk implementation", "context": "Testing 5 versions of a popup with 1000 users informed which single implementation to test in product", "topic_id": "topic_11", "line_start": 320, "line_end": 320 }, { "id": "i22", "text": "Google Scholar and behavioral research literature are underutilized resources by product teams - most problems have been studied already", "context": "Recommendation to spend a day searching for existing research before building solutions", "topic_id": "topic_11", "line_start": 331, "line_end": 332 }, { "id": "i23", "text": "Always test multiple conditions relatively rather than single designs - you need comparison to understand if something actually works", "context": "Single designs can't tell if an improvement is due to the design or if all designs would perform similarly", "topic_id": "topic_11", "line_start": 332, "line_end": 332 }, { "id": "i24", "text": "Teams often can't agree internally on what engagement means - lack of alignment on definitions prevents effective product building", "context": "One Medical example where 'engagement' meant different things to different team members", "topic_id": "topic_12", "line_start": 368, "line_end": 368 }, { "id": "i25", "text": "Users who don't book appointments during onboarding often forget the app exists when they need it later - onboarding activation is critical", "context": "Six months later when users get sick, they revert to previous behavior patterns; activation must happen immediately", "topic_id": "topic_12", "line_start": 374, "line_end": 374 }, { "id": "i26", "text": "Reducing choice to a single recommendation increases conversion more than presenting many options", "context": "Paradox of choice - fewer options with strong recommendation beats unlimited options", "topic_id": "topic_12", "line_start": 377, "line_end": 377 }, { "id": "i27", "text": "Limiting time windows (showing only tomorrow's appointments vs all future dates) creates urgency that increases conversions", "context": "Makes users more likely to book rather than defer decision", "topic_id": "topic_12", "line_start": 377, "line_end": 377 }, { "id": "i28", "text": "Behavior is deeply contextual - what works in one context may not work in another, making testing essential", "context": "Caution against copy-pasting tactics across products without validation", "topic_id": "topic_13", "line_start": 404, "line_end": 404 }, { "id": "i29", "text": "Moving abstract benefits to concrete, experience-based benefits makes them more salient and motivating", "context": "Example: instead of 'collaborative team,' show how someone can actually use the product immediately", "topic_id": "topic_13", "line_start": 407, "line_end": 407 }, { "id": "i30", "text": "Landing users back at their stopping point rather than the beginning when they return increases completion rates significantly", "context": "Wealthfront insight: resuming mid-flow beats forcing users to restart", "topic_id": "topic_13", "line_start": 410, "line_end": 410 }, { "id": "i31", "text": "Social norms are powerful immediate benefits - telling people 'everyone else does this' is a valid motivation even if it's not the real reason", "context": "Right for Wrong: people naturally follow the herd even though they dislike admitting it", "topic_id": "topic_14", "line_start": 422, "line_end": 422 }, { "id": "i32", "text": "Deadlines are a gift that help people prioritize - they create structure that increases completion rates", "context": "Non-profit example where team resisted deadlines thinking they were harmful, but deadlines actually increased interview prep completion", "topic_id": "topic_14", "line_start": 455, "line_end": 455 }, { "id": "i33", "text": "Error messages can be used strategically to motivate completion bias - removing them when you solve the issue provides immediate benefit", "context": "Right for Wrong: people complete flows partly to make error messages disappear, which is fine as long as the underlying behavior is correct", "topic_id": "topic_14", "line_start": 425, "line_end": 425 }, { "id": "i34", "text": "Behavioral diagnosis with 200-300 screenshot slides of product steps is time-consuming but generates team insights and light-bulb moments", "context": "Deep understanding of barriers at each step leads to breakthrough interventions", "topic_id": "topic_15", "line_start": 476, "line_end": 476 }, { "id": "i35", "text": "Information aversion is a real barrier - some users don't want to see health test results, requiring interventions to overcome avoidance", "context": "Example: health app users may resist viewing results, needing specific design to overcome this psychology", "topic_id": "topic_15", "line_start": 482, "line_end": 482 } ], "examples": [ { "id": "ex1", "explicit_text": "At Google, we were embedded within Google for around three years. We started their behavioral economics team. We worked with over 25 teams from like self-driving cars to YouTube.", "inferred_identity": "Kristen Berman and Irrational Labs", "confidence": "High", "tags": [ "Google", "behavioral science team", "embedded consulting", "25+ teams", "YouTube", "self-driving cars", "internal consulting" ], "lesson": "Demonstrates that major tech companies recognize value in dedicated behavioral science teams and need cross-functional expert support", "topic_id": "topic_5", "line_start": 52, "line_end": 53 }, { "id": "ex2", "explicit_text": "This was with a popular FinTech app and their most requested feature was budgeting. So, it came through all the support forums, interviews, felt like a table stakes feature; people wanted budgeting.", "inferred_identity": "Unnamed FinTech app", "confidence": "Medium", "tags": [ "FinTech", "budgeting feature", "user demand failure", "10000 person test", "zero impact", "behavior change failure" ], "lesson": "Most requested features often fail because they don't address actual behavioral barriers - asking users what they want ≠ what will change their behavior", "topic_id": "topic_2", "line_start": 65, "line_end": 65 }, { "id": "ex3", "explicit_text": "If you go to Apartment List, they ask you questions during the signup flow that's like: What kind of apartment do you want? Do you want a studio, or a one-bedroom, a five bedroom? Do you want a patio, a basement, a view?", "inferred_identity": "Apartment List", "confidence": "High", "tags": [ "Apartment List", "real estate", "signup flow optimization", "benefit engagement", "questions increase conversion", "user preferences" ], "lesson": "Asking users qualifying questions about what they want increases conversion by making them think about benefits before asking for commitment", "topic_id": "topic_4", "line_start": 110, "line_end": 110 }, { "id": "ex4", "explicit_text": "Trunk Club has come out and said they did this and it increased conversion by 133%", "inferred_identity": "Trunk Club", "confidence": "High", "tags": [ "Trunk Club", "e-commerce", "personal styling", "questions in signup", "133% conversion increase", "benefit engagement" ], "lesson": "Strategic questions in signup flows can drive massive conversion increases when they engage users with immediate benefits", "topic_id": "topic_4", "line_start": 110, "line_end": 110 }, { "id": "ex5", "explicit_text": "We actually did something where we put a quiz on a partner's website. It's TytoCare which is basically a device that lets you remotely connect to a physician. It's a little bit hard to use, but we wanted to help people understand the device, and we asked them questions about their medical behavior, their frequency use of technology. And for people who completed a quiz, 53% of them went on to purchase versus 37% who didn't complete.", "inferred_identity": "TytoCare", "confidence": "High", "tags": [ "TytoCare", "healthcare technology", "telemedicine device", "quiz engagement", "53% vs 37% purchase lift", "behavior change", "medical device adoption" ], "lesson": "Interactive engagement (quizzes) dramatically increases purchase intent for complex health products - 16 percentage point lift from quiz completion", "topic_id": "topic_4", "line_start": 112, "line_end": 113 }, { "id": "ex6", "explicit_text": "If I'm a bill pay app, you could tell me that I could pay my bill once a week, every day, every month, I could time it, but a better approach would be to ask me, 'Do you want us to pay your bills immediately, or every week, or every month?'", "inferred_identity": "Generic bill pay app example", "confidence": "Medium", "tags": [ "bill pay", "FinTech", "payment automation", "setup optimization", "choice framing", "benefit communication" ], "lesson": "Framing setup questions to simultaneously show benefits and get user preferences increases engagement and enables automatic payments", "topic_id": "topic_4", "line_start": 134, "line_end": 134 }, { "id": "ex7", "explicit_text": "So, I met Dan around 2008 and if you don't know Dan Ariely, definitely worth a Google. And at that time, he had just written his first book, Predictably Irrational, and I was a product manager at Intuit working on QuickBooks online.", "inferred_identity": "Kristen Berman at Intuit", "confidence": "High", "tags": [ "Intuit", "QuickBooks Online", "product manager", "behavioral economics adoption", "Dan Ariely influence", "2008" ], "lesson": "Kristen's background at Intuit as a PM informed her approach to bringing behavioral science into product practice", "topic_id": "topic_5", "line_start": 140, "line_end": 140 }, { "id": "ex8", "explicit_text": "LendingClub, a while ago, hired me to increase their conversion flow for borrowers. They're a lending app and they wanted to get more borrowers in the flow. The novel thing here was that they would pay me a lot of money if I hit a bump. It was like a five-point bump and zero if I didn't hit anything.", "inferred_identity": "LendingClub", "confidence": "High", "tags": [ "LendingClub", "lending app", "peer-to-peer lending", "conversion optimization", "misaligned incentives", "ethical challenge", "5-point conversion bump" ], "lesson": "Aggressive commission structures can incentivize unethical product changes - alignment of incentives with customer benefit is critical", "topic_id": "topic_9", "line_start": 233, "line_end": 233 }, { "id": "ex9", "explicit_text": "TikTok is obviously a big platform, and with any big social media platform, they have misinformation on it. This is not just a problem with TikTok. Facebook and Twitter have it, and misinformation is growing. And so, they asked us to help decrease the spread of misinformation on their platform.", "inferred_identity": "TikTok", "confidence": "High", "tags": [ "TikTok", "social media", "misinformation", "content moderation", "sharing behavior", "24% reduction in shares", "platform safety" ], "lesson": "Major platforms recognize behavioral science value in addressing misinformation - friction at decision points reduces harmful sharing", "topic_id": "topic_10", "line_start": 281, "line_end": 281 }, { "id": "ex10", "explicit_text": "We narrowed on decreasing shares. So, we could have said likes. We could have said comments, or general engagement which is a broad thing, but we narrowed on decreasing the shares.", "inferred_identity": "TikTok misinformation project", "confidence": "High", "tags": [ "TikTok", "misinformation", "behavior specificity", "shares vs likes vs comments", "focus on distribution", "viral reduction" ], "lesson": "Targeting the specific behavior (sharing vs engaging) matters - shares spread misinformation further than likes/comments", "topic_id": "topic_10", "line_start": 284, "line_end": 284 }, { "id": "ex11", "explicit_text": "There was a label on the video, which is kind of classic in the misinformation world where you tell users that it's unverified information. And the second thing was, once you click the share button, we popped up something that said, 'Are you sure?' And this was basically slowing people down.", "inferred_identity": "TikTok misinformation intervention", "confidence": "High", "tags": [ "TikTok", "unverified label", "share confirmation popup", "friction design", "misinformation reduction", "24% share decrease" ], "lesson": "Simple friction points (labels + confirmation) reduce harmful sharing by slowing down emotional hot states", "topic_id": "topic_10", "line_start": 305, "line_end": 305 }, { "id": "ex12", "explicit_text": "One Medical asked us to increase engagement. This is a classic question. How do you increase engagement in a product or service, right?", "inferred_identity": "One Medical", "confidence": "High", "tags": [ "One Medical", "healthcare", "telemedicine", "engagement optimization", "appointment booking", "20% increase" ], "lesson": "Engagement is ill-defined by default - must operationalize to specific behaviors like 'book appointment during onboarding'", "topic_id": "topic_12", "line_start": 362, "line_end": 362 }, { "id": "ex13", "explicit_text": "Basically, somebody setting up a doctor's appointment right after signing up for One Medical. This is really important because more likely than not, you're going to sign up for One Medical, six months later, you're going to get a fever and get sick, and are you going to remember this app that you signed up for six months ago? Probably not.", "inferred_identity": "One Medical appointment booking", "confidence": "High", "tags": [ "One Medical", "appointment booking", "onboarding activation", "behavior specificity", "long-term retention", "mental model formation" ], "lesson": "Onboarding must drive immediate activation behavior that forms mental models - delayed activation gets lost to status quo", "topic_id": "topic_12", "line_start": 374, "line_end": 374 }, { "id": "ex14", "explicit_text": "The simple intervention we did was, just during onboarding, we asked people a few questions about their health; mental, sleep, physical. We then recommended a provider. So, instead of having lots of choice, we decreased the choice, recommended them one provider, told them why, and then recommended appointment times. And limited the amount of appointment times. It was for tomorrow. We recommended a virtual appointment so it'd be a quick thing that you could do from your home. And then, that intervention, the onboarding intervention, increased bookings by 20% during onboarding.", "inferred_identity": "One Medical onboarding redesign", "confidence": "High", "tags": [ "One Medical", "appointment booking", "choice reduction", "provider recommendation", "time-limited slots", "virtual appointments", "20% booking increase", "onboarding optimization" ], "lesson": "Reducing choice, recommending providers, limiting time slots to tomorrow, and offering virtual appointments together drive 20% appointment booking increase", "topic_id": "topic_12", "line_start": 377, "line_end": 377 }, { "id": "ex15", "explicit_text": "We worked with one medical on how to increase setting doctor's appointments right away during the onboarding, and that worked and drove it up by 20%.", "inferred_identity": "One Medical appointment optimization", "confidence": "High", "tags": [ "One Medical", "healthcare", "appointment booking", "20% increase", "onboarding", "behavior activation" ], "lesson": "Behavioral interventions during onboarding can drive measurable appointment booking increases", "topic_id": "topic_12", "line_start": 53, "line_end": 53 }, { "id": "ex16", "explicit_text": "We worked with Credit Karma on basically helping them increase set up for reoccurring deposits. We did that and increased it by 18%.", "inferred_identity": "Credit Karma", "confidence": "High", "tags": [ "Credit Karma", "FinTech", "credit monitoring", "recurring deposits", "18% increase", "behavior activation" ], "lesson": "Behavioral design can increase financial automation adoption by 18% through optimized flows", "topic_id": "topic_12", "line_start": 53, "line_end": 53 }, { "id": "ex17", "explicit_text": "It actually accomplished decreasing misinformation share by 24%. We worked with one medical on how to increase setting doctor's appointments right away during the onboarding, and that worked and drove it up by 20%. We worked with Credit Karma on basically helping them increase set up for reoccurring deposits. We did that and increased it by 18%.", "inferred_identity": "TikTok, One Medical, Credit Karma portfolio", "confidence": "High", "tags": [ "behavioral science", "multiple platforms", "24% misinformation reduction", "20% appointment increase", "18% deposit adoption", "cross-industry impact" ], "lesson": "Behavioral design principles drive consistent 15-25% improvements across diverse product categories", "topic_id": "topic_12", "line_start": 53, "line_end": 53 }, { "id": "ex18", "explicit_text": "There's an elevator study where basically, you want people to use the stairs. And so, what the researchers did was make the elevator door close 16 seconds longer. So now, you get in the elevator, you're annoyed. It's harder to use the elevator, and people went to the stairs.", "inferred_identity": "Academic study / general example", "confidence": "Medium", "tags": [ "elevator study", "friction design", "behavior change", "stairs vs elevator", "16 second delay", "research methodology" ], "lesson": "Adding logistical friction to undesired behaviors can drive users toward better alternatives", "topic_id": "topic_10", "line_start": 293, "line_end": 293 }, { "id": "ex19", "explicit_text": "We worked with a company called Study. This was a FinTech app and we're helping people to sign up or sync their bank account. Syncing their bank account is a required step in any kind of FinTech app, and yet so difficult, big drop off point.", "inferred_identity": "Study FinTech app", "confidence": "High", "tags": [ "Study app", "FinTech", "bank account sync", "onboarding friction", "completion bias", "benefit framing" ], "lesson": "Required but difficult steps are major dropoff points - reframing each step's immediate benefits increases completion", "topic_id": "topic_13", "line_start": 425, "line_end": 425 }, { "id": "ex20", "explicit_text": "Wealthfront has said one of their key insights was when people dropped out of the flow, normally they would just put people back at the beginning. That's really frustrating. If you can put people back where they landed, they're more likely to continue.", "inferred_identity": "Wealthfront", "confidence": "High", "tags": [ "Wealthfront", "financial advisory", "wealth management", "onboarding resumption", "dropout recovery", "user retention" ], "lesson": "Landing users back at their stopping point rather than the beginning increases completion rates and reduces friction", "topic_id": "topic_13", "line_start": 410, "line_end": 410 }, { "id": "ex21", "explicit_text": "Asana and the collaborative communicator versus maybe one that's more immediate. When we're thinking about more immediate benefits, this could actually be things like social norms where you're telling people everybody else is doing something.", "inferred_identity": "Asana", "confidence": "High", "tags": [ "Asana", "productivity software", "task management", "completion bias", "social desirability", "immediate benefits" ], "lesson": "Immediate benefits (seeing checkboxes, social proof) drive usage more than long-term collaboration benefits", "topic_id": "topic_14", "line_start": 422, "line_end": 422 }, { "id": "ex22", "explicit_text": "So, I think, sports, it's so obvious you want to practice. I just started ping pong lessons actually, and I'm doing the same stroke for an hour. But in life, we don't rehearse as much. I don't write an email a hundred times, and then practice sending it.", "inferred_identity": "Kristen Berman personal reflection", "confidence": "High", "tags": [ "rehearsal", "practice", "behavior design", "life skills", "decision-making", "preparation" ], "lesson": "Humans don't naturally rehearse important decisions like they do in sports - this is an opportunity for product design", "topic_id": "topic_17", "line_start": 539, "line_end": 539 }, { "id": "ex23", "explicit_text": "We tried to get them to add a deadline because they were trying to help people sign up for interviews. So, they were basically filtering people before Staples would get them for an interview. They'd do the interview prep. They'd help them show up for the interview. But the reality is that sometimes people miss this stuff. It takes a long time to get to the interview. And so, our push to them was to add a deadline to help people show up.", "inferred_identity": "Non-profit interview prep company", "confidence": "Medium", "tags": [ "non-profit", "interview prep", "job training", "deadline resistance", "behavior activation", "deadline benefits" ], "lesson": "Even well-intentioned non-profits resist deadlines thinking they're harmful, when deadlines actually help users prioritize and follow through", "topic_id": "topic_14", "line_start": 455, "line_end": 455 }, { "id": "ex24", "explicit_text": "We added a deadline to Kiva's flow for when their borrowers were signing up and we increased their conversion.", "inferred_identity": "Kiva", "confidence": "High", "tags": [ "Kiva", "microfinance", "lending", "deadline design", "conversion increase", "urgency creation" ], "lesson": "Adding deadlines to microfinance signup increases borrower conversion by creating structure and urgency", "topic_id": "topic_14", "line_start": 455, "line_end": 455 }, { "id": "ex25", "explicit_text": "Clubhouse actually was an interesting example of this at some level where you saw two levels of status in Clubhouse. There were the people who were friends with the people on stage, and then there was everyone else. So, that was a motivator to be friends with more people and start following people so that you could be in that little bucket of friends with other people.", "inferred_identity": "Clubhouse social platform", "confidence": "High", "tags": [ "Clubhouse", "social platform", "audio rooms", "status hierarchy", "social proof", "friend following" ], "lesson": "Creating status distinction between friend groups of speakers vs others motivates users to grow their networks", "topic_id": "topic_14", "line_start": 443, "line_end": 443 } ] }