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No. 90 · People · Human Nature and Judgement

Nudging

Small changes in how choices are arranged can change what people choose, without forbidding anything.

Nudging means designing choices so the better option is the easy one. Countries where organ donation is the default have far higher consent, and simply monitoring Virgin Atlantic captains helped them save fuel.

Use it on yourself first: put healthy food at eye level, automate savings on payday, and set up meetings and dinners so good habits happen by default. Keep nudges transparent and easy to opt out of, especially when you're nudging other people.

In the Almanac

“Do defaults save lives?”, 2003 · “Virgin Atlantic”, 2014

Both stories in full, three ways to use it and where it misleads.

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Nudging

Questions

What is Nudging?

Nudging means designing choices so the better option is the easy one. Countries where organ donation is the default have far higher consent, and simply monitoring Virgin Atlantic captains helped them save fuel.

How do you use Nudging?

Use it on yourself first: put healthy food at eye level, automate savings on payday, and set up meetings and dinners so good habits happen by default. Keep nudges transparent and easy to opt out of, especially when you're nudging other people.

When does Nudging matter?

Nudging is one of the 60 mental models for people, the situations where you ask: Why do people act as they do, and how do I work with them? Within that, it belongs to “Persuading and influencing”, alongside Anchoring, Backfire Effect and Bait and Switch.

What is an example of Nudging?

Two stories show it at work: Do defaults save lives? (2003) and Virgin Atlantic (2014). Both are told in full in The Mental Models Daily Almanac, which has two stories for each of its 365 models.

Which mental models are related to Nudging?

Dark Patterns, Inertia and Forcing Function. Nudging itself comes from human nature and judgement.