#74: Nudge (Notes & Reflection)

Choice Architecture:

• The way choices are presented to people can significantly influence their decisions. Choice architects (e.g. designers of menus, store layouts, or public policies) can subtly guide behaviour without limiting freedom of choice.

Nudge: 

• Refers to any aspect of choice architecture that alters people’s behaviour without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives; i.e. interventions that are easy and cheap to avoid.

• Nudges can be material or cognitive.

Automatic vs. Reflective Thinking:

• Humans often rely on automatic thinking (fast, instinctual, and subconscious) rather than reflective thinking (slower, more deliberate, and conscious).

• Nudges work by targeting automatic thinking processes to guide behaviour.

Setting the Default:

• Status quo VS back to zero 

• Harnessing the power of inertia: If you think that one option produces better outcomes, choose it as the default (e.g. opting out of organ donation).

• Defaults have some extra nudging power because consumers may feel that default options come with an implicit endorsement from the default setter.

Baseline: 

• Choosers are human, so designers should make life as easy as possible.