Using behavioral science to improve your product | Kristen Berman (Irrational Labs)
Kristen Berman is the CEO and co-founder of Irrational Labs, where she helps companies like Google, Airbnb, PayPal, Microsoft, and LinkedIn improve their products and services through behavioral design research. She is also the co-founder of Common Cents Lab, a Duke University initiative dedicated to improving the financial well-being of low- to middle-class Americans. In today’s episode, Kristen shares the 3B Framework of Behavioral Design and uses real-life examples to illustrate what influences behavior change and the common biases that get in the way of building successful products. She also explains how to keep users engaged and how you can implement behavioral design research to drive innovation and growth.
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Where to find Kristen Berman:
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/bermster
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristenberman/
- Website: https://irrationallabs.com/
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Where to find Lenny:
- Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
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Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible:
- Flatfile: https://www.flatfile.com/lenny
- Whimsical: https://whimsical.com/lenny
- Lenny’s Job Board: https://www.lennysjobs.com/talent
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Referenced:
Learn more behavioral science:
- 3B Behavioral Design Framework https://miro.com/miroverse/3b-behavioral-design-framework
- Irrational Labs newsletter, with latest BE and behavioral design insights: https://irrationallabs.com/newsletter/
- Join the Behavioral Design Online Bootcamp (use code “Lenny” for 10% off): https://behavioraleconomicsbootcamp.com/
- Get the 3B Framework: https://irrationallabs.com/3bs-download/
- Behavioral Design & Diagnosis Cheat Sheet: https://irrationallabs.com/download-behavioral-design-guide/
- The 16 Critical Cognitive Biases (Plus Key Academic Research): https://irrationallabs.com/blog/cognitive-biases-and-academic-research/
- Behavioral Game Design: 7 Lessons: https://irrationallabs.com/blog/behavioral-game-design-7-lessons-from-behavioral-science-to-help-change-user-behavior/
- Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions: https://www.amazon.com/Predictably-Irrational-Revised-Expanded-Decisions/dp/0061353248/
- Prolific testing platform: https://www.prolific.co/
- Kristen’s guest post on Lenny’s Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/people/23170097-kristen-berman
- Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion: https://www.amazon.com/Influence-New-Expanded-Psychology-Persuasion/dp/0062937650
- The Darwin Economy: Liberty, Competition, and the Common Good: https://www.amazon.com/Darwin-Economy-Liberty-Competition-Common/dp/0691156689/
- The Science of Change podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-science-of-change/id1587407079
- No Stupid Questions podcast: https://freakonomics.com/series/nsq/
- Stream The Rehearsal on HBO Max: https://www.hbo.com/the-rehearsal
- Chris York’s website: https://www.chrisyork.co/
Case studies mentioned:
- Budgeting fintech: https://irrationallabs.com/case-studies/budgeting/
- TikTok: https://irrationallabs.com/case-studies/tiktok-how-behavioral-science-reduced-the-spread-of-misinformation/
- One Medical: https://irrationallabs.com/case-studies/one-medical-case-study/
- Credit Karma: https://irrationallabs.com/case-studies/behavioral-design-credit-karma-money/
- TytoCare: https://irrationallabs.com/case-studies/tytocare-virtual-medical-visits/
- Kiva: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/mind-guest-blog/the-deadline-made-me-do-it/
- When to Make Your Sign-Up Flow Harder: https://irrationallabs.com/blog/its-not-always-about-making-things-easier-when-to-make-your-sign-up-flow-harder/
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In this episode, we cover:
(03:54) What is Irrational Labs, and what do they do?
(05:45) What are behavioral economics and behavioral design?
(06:50) The fintech budgeting experiment
(10:46) What drives behavior change?
(11:35) Why increasing friction can sometimes increase conversion
(13:51) H
