For a long time, there was a schism in the social sciences, which was particularly obvious whenever economists and psychologists tried to work together. Psychologists have, generally, long accepted the fact that sometimes perfectly sane people behave irrationally, while economists, for the most part, saw people as always living rational lives.
Now, at least some economists and psychologists have reconciled, both accepting that even the most lucid of us sometimes behave irrationally. Behavioral economists have been largely responsible for this ceasefire, and their work on motivation and decision-making, in general, should interest anyone working with clients or trying to make sense of design research data. The Wikipedia page on behavioral economics (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_economics) is a useful introduction to the field and contains links to other material of value to designers.
Dan Ariely, a professor at Duke, has done a lot of important research in behavioral economics, and writes up his findings in a very approachable way (for example, his book, “Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions”). As Mr. Ariely details in “Predictably Irrational”, it makes sense for designers to read up on behavioral economics because “the irrational behaviors of ours are neither random nor senseless. They are systematic, and since we repeat them again and again, predictable.”
In “Predictably Irrational,” Mr. Ariely reviews many examples of predictably irrational behavior, one related to the purchase of a home. As he discussed, “Your real estate agent guides you to three houses, all of which interest you. One of them is a contemporary, and two are colonials. All three cost about the same, they are all equally desirable, and the only difference is that one of the colonials, (the “decoy”) needs a new roof and the owner has knocked a few thousand dollars off the price to cover the additional expense…The chances are that you will not choose the contemporary and you will not choose the colonial that needs the new roof…We like to make decisions based on comparisons. In the case of the three houses, we don’t know much about the contemporary (we don’t have another house to compare it with), so that house goes on the sidelines. But we do know that one of the colonials is better than the other one. That is, the colonial with the good roof is better than the one with the bad roof. Therefore, we will reason that it is better overall and go for the colonial with the good roof.”
Another example of predictably irrational behavior: making sure we have options, for example, buying models of computers or something else that keeps “all our options open.” Mr. Ariely states, “We have an irrational compulsion to keep doors open. It’s just the way we’re wired. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to close them.”
Take some time to learn about behavioral economics, i.e., the work of social scientists investigating the outcomes of irrational behaviors. Doing so during this holiday season is definitely time well spent; not only will you reap professional benefits, but what you find out may also shed some light on what’s up with the wacky relatives who re-enter our lives each year around this time.
Sally Augustin, PhD, a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.