You come face to face with a tiger. What is your first reaction? Behavioral economics in UX.
You come face to face with a tiger. What is your first reaction? You open excel and start by processing the information, what is the best thing to do in this situation, or without thinking less, do you take your legs behind your belt and run away hoping that you will succeed?
I may be tempted to say that each of us will choose the second option — I run as soon as possible. Although we often hear that in a situation like this, it is not very good to run, because we arouse the interest of such a beast all the more.
However, we turn off our cognition, responsible for thinking about the situation and considering the options available. Emotions take over and we act by running as fast as possible, without thinking or calculating too much.
Fortunately, few of us come face to face with a tiger on a daily basis, yet the pattern of how emotions work is similar. Someone annoyed us on the roadway on the way to work, a customer service person treated us in an unpleasant way. In all these situations, the scheme of action of emotions is close.
Training makes a master
Is it even possible for us to act rationally? We must be aware that the capacities of our brain are limited, which translates into the fact that we are not able to make rational decisions in 100% of everyday matters. However, there is a chance to exercise and prevent certain situations prematurely.
“For free, I get it!”
First, when we make a mistake and realize it, we are able to fix it. An example, cited by one of the most recognized behavioral economists, Dan Ariely, is when we get something for free.
Sometimes we see that something is free and literally throw ourselves at it, without thinking about whether we need it at all for something. It turns out that if it were not free and cost the proverbial zloty, we would not be as willing to buy. Our purchasing decisions would be completely different.
Dan advises to ask yourself in such a situation:
If this product cost more than a dozen zlotys, would we be so happy to reach for it?
The easiest way, of course, is to judge the irrational behavior of the people around us, but we no longer perceive the same absurdity in our own actions. And here it is worth stopping for a while, trying to look in the mirror and realize such behavior and think it over. This is the first step that can help us train the prevention of our irrational behaviors.
Second, prevent
The second step is to prevent such mistakes from being made prematurely. You go to lunch, you are on a diet, you see a chocolate soufflé and, despite the diet, you eat it with no small taste.
At the moment when you are already in such a situation, it is unlikely that the thought “ohh, this behavior is irrational, I should not do this” will find you. It is better to tell the waiter at the beginning of the meal not to show you the dessert menu in any case.
The example seems trivial and simple, however, its task is to show that there are mechanisms that are supposed to help us train decision-making in a more rational way.
Behavioral Economics and Classical Economics
Both of them focus on similar issues:
- What are the mechanisms that govern the market?
- What drives us to behave in a certain way?
- Why do we buy things?
So what's the difference?
Good old economics assumes that people make rational decisions, act thoughtfully. Behavioral economics, on the other hand, assumes that this is not entirely the case. Here, the actual behaviors of people are studied and their limitations are taken into account.
Behavioral economists look hard at how and why we make these and not other choices, and try to explain why we happen to act against any logic. The power of irrationality or the traps of thinking, are areas that they are constantly deepening in their research. Behavioral economics combines psychology, sociology, and neuroscience.
Thanks to it, we are able to better understand human behavior, decisions made under the influence of emotions, thought traps, moods that guide us or our primal instincts. The results obtained in research do not function in a vacuum, therefore, behavioral economics is juxtaposed with standard economics, in order to better analyze and understand them fully.
Mechanisms of behavioral economics
Interest in behavioral economics is growing, this is fully understandable. If you want to shape people's behavior, you need to know and be aware of what drives them.
Behavioral economics focuses on the design of human behavior. Exploring this topic is useful at a time when:
- we want to build the engagement of our customers,
- understand the reasons why they behave this way and not the other way
- and what affects them.
I am talking here, of course, about shaping good behavior and making life easier for our users.
Behavioral economics in products
Now let's look at some examples of the use of behavioral economics in products. Psychological aspects are used on a daily basis by many companies, and we are often not completely aware of it.
Changes? No way!
After buying a new iPhone, I got half a year access to Apple TV. There are plenty of shows and not much time, so as you can guess, half a year has passed and I haven't even started most of them. It would be rational to abandon the offer for which the first charge was to be charged any day.
This decision involved some kind of effort that I would have to put in to deactivate the package. So the fee has been charged, Apple TV is still with me to this day, as well as the thought that someday I will watch all those series that I have heard so much about. A decision made is also a lack of decision.
Why didn't I just quit? We don't like to change our current situation. Often we have chills at the very thought of the fact that we will have to make a choice and, for example, give up such a favorable package (it is not important that we practically did not use it). We avoid making decisions by maintaining our status quo, in effect doing nothing.
Anchoring Heuristics
Surely each of you associates one of such questions in the style of: “How much money would you be able to allocate for product X?”. In order not to have to think too long, when asked, we immediately get the proposed amounts and the opportunity to indicate our own.
So how much will this amount be? The so-called anchoring is used here. The proposed amounts are stored in our memory influencing our choice. Even if I choose to enter my own amount, it unconsciously oscillates around the amounts that have already been given.
If the amounts proposed are higher, it is more likely that the amount of money allocated will be greater in comparison if we had anchored much lower amounts in human memory.
Terrifying vision of loss
I have had a very favorable package of subscription services for a long time. You have to know that there is a simple trick applied there, taken from behavioral economics. What's the matter? With timely payment of the subscription invoice, the amount of my invoice is lower. At the time of being late, I lose my discount and the invoice amount will be higher.
As you may have guessed, the loss of the discount and the vision of higher fees, is a suitable motivator for regular charges. And so the operator is happy, because he gets payments on time, and I am satisfied because I have my precious discount.
Stimulation effect
This model allows us to identify the behaviors of our users and improve and redesign them accordingly.
Recently, I have the impression that this effect is being used more and more often. There are a lot of online courses in various fields. Starting from design, photography, coding, language learning, to many, many more. Before the start of the course, we receive several free lessons of several tens of minutes, which are a preview of what the course will contain.
The lessons are well prepared, touch on interesting areas, arousing more and more interest. We are ready to take the course here and now. And at this point, the lessons come to an end, and we are excited and eager for more.
We are much more likely to buy a course at this point because we are under the influence of certain emotions. The lessons are over and there is a tempting offer that we are willing to take advantage of because we are in a state of emotional arousal. We are looking forward to more interaction with this particular company.
Behavior Design
If we want to start designing a behavior, let's start with a single behavior. It is good to choose a specific behavior that we are going to try to change in our recipient.
Behavioral diagnosis is a concept that focuses on working around how users make decisions, what motivates them and limits them.
Model 3B — behavior, barriers, benefits
This model allows us to identify the behaviors of our users and improve and redesign them accordingly.
Behavior, how we act
We begin by identifying the specific behavior of our user. It is important that it is measurable. Consider what steps users need to take to get a certain result. Consider:
- What actions does our user have to perform?
- Is the identified behavior relevant to the business purpose?
Behavior and the result
It is very important at this stage to think about the behavior, and not its result. Let's try to distinguish between these two elements:
- Result: I save PLN 500 per month, behavior: I deposit PLN 20 from each transfer to a savings account
- Result: I move every day, behavior: every morning I go for a 45 minute brisk walk with my dog
Offline, online, offline
Let's not forget that many decisions made by users take place in everyday life, beyond the screens of laptops or phones. These decisions are greatly influenced by the environment around us.
During our work, it is also worth remembering the broader context, apart from business or project requirements. Think about what might be going on off screen.
In this way, there is a good chance to design the meaning of a better user experience, which will result in better decision making.
As you can guess, the more complex the process, the more likely it is that at some stage we will give it up and not make it to the end. That is why it is so important to think about the whole process, all the steps that our user will have to follow, as well as the environment in which he may be, because this can have a big impact.
Barriers, the obstacles encountered
Any obstacle that the client encounters in his path takes him away from achieving his goal. A very often cited example is the good old form. The forms are difficult, we do not like to fill them out and it happens that we are already skeptical at the beginning.
That's why it's so important to design it as simple as possible. The user should, as far as possible, slide through our form with great ease and not stop anywhere for too long so as not to accidentally get frustrated.
The barriers that the user may encounter on his path to achieving the goal are divided into:
- logistical
- psychological.
Logistical barriers apply to all those steps that we need to perform, for example, completing a form to register for the portal. The psychological ones, on the other hand, are all those moments that require reflection and making a certain decision.
Benefits, what can I gain
After analyzing the behaviors and barriers that our user may encounter, it is time to identify the benefits that they can receive from us. Certain steps and processes are inevitable — we need to register to use the Patient Portal, we need to fill in our address to receive the package. There are many such steps that we have to take, even though they give us a problem or simply require more effort, and we are lazy by nature.
So what can we do? Once the barriers have been identified, it is good to ask yourself how this can be prevented or the barrier that has arisen can be eliminated.
If the barrier concerns the attention of the user, then it is worth considering whether what we want to tell the user about will be adequately visible to him. If not — it is worth paying attention to how this information will be presented in the interface so as to capture the user's attention and convey to him what is important from our point of view.
Fear of change
As we already know, we are attached to the chosen options and do not like changes. Sometimes the remaining options are much more advantageous, and yet, contrary to any logic, we continue to make many moves that are unfavorable for us.
So how do you encourage the user to make such a terrible change? Show as much benefit as possible with financial incentives. Let the customer know that there is an alternative and it is much more beneficial.
What do others say?
The opinions of others are very important to us. Before going to the doctor, beautician, hairdresser, buying a product, we check what others are saying. How the visit turned out, whether everything was fine, what is the general satisfaction of the people who were there before us, whether the product meets expectations.
This is important enough that on the pages we will always find a dedicated area with user opinions. To encourage you to use our service or purchase our product, it is good to show the voices and opinions of others.
I don't buy a cat in a bag
A free trial is a great way to encourage you to get to know our product. Show him what he can gain by buying our product. By nature, we are not willing to pay for things that we do not know and do not know whether they will be useful to us in any way at all.
Therefore, we make part of our product available so that the user can get to know it and think: “how could I live without it?”. This will increase the commitment and willingness to buy to take advantage of the offer or purchase the product.
The promotion ends in 3, 2, 1...
Recently, one of the people I follow on social media promoted the sale of her e-book. There is nothing extraordinary about this, except for the fact that the sale lasted only 7 days. After that, the ebook disappears and it will no longer be possible to buy it.
I started to think about it, and it dawned on me that more and more people or companies are using this tactic. The sale lasts for a certain amount of time and then ends. We have this deadline — the date and clock with the passing hours, minutes and seconds appear in a central place on the page and change at a frighteningly fast pace. “Oh no, now I have to buy this product! Soon he will be gone, I will soon lose this unique and unique opportunity.”
The time pressure, and the deadline that is about to expire are enormous. Surely many of us are very strongly motivated to buy the product. It is no longer scary to fill out a form or go through the entire purchase process. I am very motivated to overcome all barriers and obstacles in order to get what I want.
Making the Right Decisions About Behavioral Economics
Exploring knowledge in the field of behavioral economics can result in two ways. It is so important to better understand our users and what drives them when they make certain purchasing decisions. By using behavioral economics in design, we should be aware of its power and turn the knowledge gained to the benefit of our users.
The expansion of knowledge in the field of behavioral economics translates into the introduction of beneficial changes in the creation of a harmonious society, making better purchasing decisions, which translates into improved efficiency and effectiveness in the economic and social sphere.
If we want to start designing a behavior, let's start with a single behavior. It is good to choose a specific behavior that we are going to try to change in our recipient. Behavioral diagnosis is a concept that focuses on working around how users make decisions, what motivates them and limits them.
