In this follow-up to the last episode on resolutions, I’m delighted to be joined by eminent psychologist and author of ‘Self-Help Without the Hype’, Dr Robert Epstein. We chat more about the idea of self-management, behaviourism and behavioural psychology and how it relates to today’s digital world.

Our chat…

A resolution isn’t just for January, we make them all the time. But not only do most of us find it hard to stick with our personal resolutions, designers and design teams are often now at the heart of creating self-improvement apps, websites and products. So it’s no longer just about changing ourselves, a designer can often help others change too.

Show notes:

‘Self-help Without The Hype’ by Dr Robert Epstein https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1134887.Self_Help_Without_The_Hype

‘Skinner as Self-Manager’ by Dr Robert Epstein https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1284070/pdf/jaba003000300545.pdf

You can read more about BF Skinner here: https://www.bfskinner.org/archives/biographical-information/

“I have looked at the linguistic complexity of the Bank of England’s own communications, including my own speeches. These rank well above the levels of a broadsheet newspaper, and way beyond the levels of a tabloid. …

We know about placebos when it comes to medication, but could there be an equivalent in design? Could the effects of design actually be an illusion and could processes like co-design compound the placebo effect?

You can read the full article here: https://medium.com/designerpsychology/placebo-design-76c7e8b0529d

Some of the things I mention in the episode:

“Placebo effects of caffeine on cycling performance” by Beadie et al (2006)

“Absolut memory distortions: alcohol placebos influence the misinformation effect.” by Assefi & Garry (2003)

“An Evaluation of Internal-Mammary-Artery Ligation by a Double-Blind Technic.” by Cobb LA, Thomas GI, Dillard DH, Merendino KA, Bruce RA (1959)

Marginal Revolution blog by Tyler Cowen

10 utterly absurd workplaces

When is it better to make something harder for people to read? The idea of purposefully making something difficult may go against our natural intuition, but there are times when our brain needs to slow down and design can help. …

Our first episode shares a little of the history behind Designer Psychology, it’s purpose and who it’s aimed at.

Here’s some of the things we mention in the episode:

‘Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation’ by Tim Brown

‘The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the next Competitive Advantage’ by Roger Martin

‘Do you matter? How great design will make people love your company’ by Robert Brunner and Stewart Emery.

John B. Watson at J. Walter Thompson: The Legitimation of “Science” in Advertsing’ by Peggy J. Kreshal in the Journal of Advertsing, Vol 19, Number 2, 1990, Pages 49–59

‘What is a Designer: Things.Places.Messages’ by Norman Potter

Along with our name change, we’re launching a podcast. Here’s a short trailer for what’s coming up.

In the first few episodes we’ll share some of the articles from the archive, so you can listen rather than read. We’ll also be talking with some sparkling minds from behavioural science, experience design, neuroscience, and advertising about their thoughts on why design is better through psychology.

Subscribe through your favourite podcast platform to have all new episodes pop into your ears. And follow us for all the updates @designerPsych

Rallying against the intuitive stance that the role of a designer is always to promote simplicity, the original research published in Cognition (Diemand-Yauman, Oppenheimer & Vaughan, 2010) opened up the idea of the designer having a more paternal role in helping their audience understand content at a cognitive level. …