Richard Thaler's Nudging with Design
Wow, Richard Thaler is the new laureate of Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences this year. Because Thaler is such an unorthodox economic professor, his laureation totally comes as a surprise. This will be the second Nobel prize that goes to an economist who studies behavior economics after Daniel Kahneman's in 2002. What do his theories have to do with user experience (UX) design? The theories actually are readily deployable in many emerging UX design applications.
Thaler's unorthodox approach to tackle economic issues is on the basis that people are rational in some aspects, but more often, are irrational. His research findings and theories he established thereafter are disrupting the old school's decision making theory. As Nobel prize committee describe, "Richard H. Thaler has incorporated psychologically realistic assumptions into analyses of economic decision-making. By exploring the consequences of limited rationality, social preferences, and lack of self-control, he has shown how these human traits systematically affect individual decisions ...."
Richard Thaler's theories have to do with design in the regards of self-control and decision making. Apart from his academic works, he wrote books for general public to learn behavior economics. Nudge, for example, turns out to be a book on my short list of favorite user experience books.
Nudge is a book not directly geared toward UX/interface design, but its arguments inspire designs of a product, system or service that can engage people in lock-steps to be aware the surroundings and make intelligent decision for their best interests. The book originally prescribes approaches an organization can adopt to help people make better choices in their daily lives. By the same token, applying these approach through visual and spatial design we can handily nudge people toward personally and socially desirable behaviors. As Nobel committee stated, "Thaler demonstrated how nudging – a term he coined – may help people exercise better self-control". One of his proposals to help nudge peoples is by carefully presenting choices through Choice Architecture. This is very similar to Donald Norman's "Perceived Affordance" where people can sense through visual, tactile, vocal or spatial arrangement that some actions are possible.
As we know that field of economics study is ever broadening and convergent with other fields, the research and development in forefront of design field is undergoing the resembling pattern of transformation. In the early days of design study, researchers started with infusing ergonomic consideration into design projects for human when the designs are mostly physical and tangible objects. As the design is morphing and enlisting more immaterial and intangible elements, such as the interactive screen and voice control, it becomes imperative that studying human factors, cognitive psychology, behavior science, etc. needed to be incorporated into design activities. Now designers are looking into more convergence of other disciplines into design field, the distinctive boundaries among disciplines are vanishing fast.
Designers, no matter what particular trade they in, will have no choice but being in a never ending quest for offering optimal user experience. Today Rich Thaler an economist provides some insights that are readily useful and effective in helping designers think critically about how people can enjoy a better outcome from their decisions made together with products, systems and services.
Have you seen this urinal design for men's room from Denmark? It help "nudge" its users, keep the restroom floor tidy and thus reduce the clean cost. It is a good example of nudging!
(https://worksthatwork.com/1/urinal-fly)
Reference:
Donald Norman's "perceived affordance"
http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/affordances_and.html
Thaler's unorthodox approach to tackle economic issues is on the basis that people are rational in some aspects, but more often, are irrational. His research findings and theories he established thereafter are disrupting the old school's decision making theory. As Nobel prize committee describe, "Richard H. Thaler has incorporated psychologically realistic assumptions into analyses of economic decision-making. By exploring the consequences of limited rationality, social preferences, and lack of self-control, he has shown how these human traits systematically affect individual decisions ...."
Richard Thaler's theories have to do with design in the regards of self-control and decision making. Apart from his academic works, he wrote books for general public to learn behavior economics. Nudge, for example, turns out to be a book on my short list of favorite user experience books.
Nudge is a book not directly geared toward UX/interface design, but its arguments inspire designs of a product, system or service that can engage people in lock-steps to be aware the surroundings and make intelligent decision for their best interests. The book originally prescribes approaches an organization can adopt to help people make better choices in their daily lives. By the same token, applying these approach through visual and spatial design we can handily nudge people toward personally and socially desirable behaviors. As Nobel committee stated, "Thaler demonstrated how nudging – a term he coined – may help people exercise better self-control". One of his proposals to help nudge peoples is by carefully presenting choices through Choice Architecture. This is very similar to Donald Norman's "Perceived Affordance" where people can sense through visual, tactile, vocal or spatial arrangement that some actions are possible.
As we know that field of economics study is ever broadening and convergent with other fields, the research and development in forefront of design field is undergoing the resembling pattern of transformation. In the early days of design study, researchers started with infusing ergonomic consideration into design projects for human when the designs are mostly physical and tangible objects. As the design is morphing and enlisting more immaterial and intangible elements, such as the interactive screen and voice control, it becomes imperative that studying human factors, cognitive psychology, behavior science, etc. needed to be incorporated into design activities. Now designers are looking into more convergence of other disciplines into design field, the distinctive boundaries among disciplines are vanishing fast.
Designers, no matter what particular trade they in, will have no choice but being in a never ending quest for offering optimal user experience. Today Rich Thaler an economist provides some insights that are readily useful and effective in helping designers think critically about how people can enjoy a better outcome from their decisions made together with products, systems and services.
Have you seen this urinal design for men's room from Denmark? It help "nudge" its users, keep the restroom floor tidy and thus reduce the clean cost. It is a good example of nudging!
(https://worksthatwork.com/1/urinal-fly)
Reference:
Donald Norman's "perceived affordance"
http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/affordances_and.html
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