[Trigger warning: I talk about methods of suicide in this article. If you think you might be affected by these themes, you might not want to read this one.]
In my article a couple of weeks ago, I talked about how ‘nudges’ can influence behaviour, particularly towards social good. Nudges are small prompts that encourage people into a desired behaviour. This is often achieved by making the ‘right thing’ easier or more attractive than the alternatives.
Richard H. Thaler is seen as the father of behavioural economics, and co-authored the book Nudge. In his 2018 article Nudge, not sludge he talks about using nudge ‘for evil’. Thaler calls this ‘sludge’ — a great word which invokes a strong mental image! It means discouraging people from an undesired action by making it harder or less attractive. There are lots of examples of using these tactics to get customers to part with more of their money or other resources than they intended to.
Thaler calls this ‘sludge’ — a great word which invokes a strong mental image!
Increasing ‘sludge’ to discourage undesirable behaviours
Photo by Brett Jordan from Pexels
What if we can use sludge for good though, by making undesirable social actions like suicide more difficult? In my article on nudge theory, I mentioned that limiting the number of Paracetamol (Tylenol) a customer can buy at once in the UK, reduced deaths by poisoning by 43%. It would be incredibly easy for a customer to buy more, by simply going to another shop, so why was this measure so effective? In this article, I’m going to explore why this tiny bit of psychological ‘sludge’ is enough to slow people down and save lives.
#ux-design #ux #mental-health #behavioral-economics #suicide
