40 students were taught a topic and either given the respective homework once instantly or 3 times over the next 3 weeks. They then had an exam a month later.

Those who had the homework spaced out over time performed much better in the exam than those who were asked to do it immediately  after learning.

Spread out the learning.

‍Research shows that spaced repetition is the most robust means of learning but is rarely used by companies. Most knowledge is delivered once and forgotten, wasting money and time. Develop shorter learnings spread over time, using different tools, both digital and physical.

Use it or lose it.

‍Knowledge only sticks when we use it. After reading a book chapter, summarize learnings into bullet points, a list of actions, or even better, become the teacher. Blinkist could send some simple interactive questions after readers have finished a book. Use Slack app QuickQuiz to follow up Lunch & Learns with a Tiny Habit of bite-size questions. 

Make progress trackable.

‍Learnings apps like Duolingo and Memrise create powerful Feedback Loops through points systems, daily goals and leaderboards to create positive reinforcement. Tracking progress gives us a sense of growth and improvement.

88 students were told about an exercise training camp and split into 2 groups: either having a choice about  the four fitness programs on offer or having one randomly assigned. They were then asked to rate their anticipated satisfaction of the program out of 9.

Those given some autonomy reported higher levels of anticipated satisfaction than those who weren’t.

Choice = autonomy = certainty. 

For instance, giving people a choice to still use the old version of your software platform for a given timeframe will reduce anxiety and uncertainty.

Product type matters.

‍People desire autonomy for pleasure purchases (i.e. vacations) more than for practical ones (i.e. business trips).

Place more focus on the former in order to maximise feelings of control and consumer satisfaction (Botti & McGill, 2011).

Change behavior with the ‘4As’.

Feeling that any change originated from within is vital.

‍Ask about the behavior, advise them impartially of the facts and of better routes, but that they must make their own choice.

If keen to change, assist them to make a commitment to do so by a given date, and arrange a follow-up to support this behavior change.

96 women were given fitness trackers and asked to either walk 10,000 steps per day or walk a bit more each day than the average of their own last 9 days. This equated to a lower number of steps than the 10,000 group but had the benefit of adapting to each person’s own step count.

Results showed that over 4 months, those with a smaller, adaptive goal walked far more than the 10,000 group.

Start very small.

‍We’re time and attention-poor, wanting results now. As one step up from Endowed Progress, what is the smallest, valuable task you can design for that affords a fast, positive Feedback Loop?

To increase long-term success, Tiny Habits creator BJ Fogg suggests using an existing behavior to trigger a new one by 'chaining' new tiny behaviors onto existing habits. 

Keep the bigger goal front of mind.

‍People who’d completed a small exercise task were less likely to eat healthy food after, due to a short-term feeling of success (Fishbach et al., 2006). However, prompting a reminder of the larger Goal Prime of becoming fit removed this problem.

Time the reminder after tiny task success.

Make it adaptive.

‍A system that flexes with our fluctuating capacity (i.e. time or energy) will always work best. Understand users’ habitual patterns & weak points and design empathic experiences around these. 

105 people were split into two groups, put in a room with either a zesty scent in the air, or no scent. They were then shown a mug, and were asked to bid for it with real money.

Those in the scented room exhibited a higher average willingness to pay for the mug.

Keep environmental scents simple...

...unless it's the brand differentiator (e.g. Aesop, Neal's Yard). Much like visual stimuli, in-store scents deemed simpler result in both higher average spending and cognitive processing (Hermann et al., 2013).

Be authentic.

‍You'll risk triggering skepticism if you substitute a real side-effect of production for something fake (Lunardo, 2012), i.e. a freshly-baked scent in a store with no oven. Better to have a complementary or no scent than have consumers think you’re patching over an inferior product.

Consider a product scent.

‍What sort of feeling do you want to evoke upon unboxing? Adams & Douce (2017) provide a brilliant analysis of possible scents. Make it subtle, appropriate and apply it consistently to the entire range. e.g. Tech company Apple is notorious for the sweet scent experienced when opening up a new computer for the first time. Even though you can't see it, you remember it deeply.

77 people were asked to choose between an entirely certain win of $30 and an uncertain 80% chance of winning $45.

78% of people opted for the significantly smaller, certain reward, despite the risk-adjusted payout being higher for the uncertain reward (0.8 * $45 = $36).

Certainty is valued highly.‍

What ways can your business create reassurance or guarantees that make consumers feel safe?  How can you use exclusive certainty to reward and foster a sense of status with your brand?

Stick to your promises!

Letting consumers down, even once, will trigger uncertainty in the quality perceptions of your brand. If making claims about being the best at something, don’t ever give consumers reason to question that and turn a selling point into an unsustainable headache.

Reframe uncertain offers to appear certain.‍

The uncertain frame here requires consumers to calculate proportional savings, but the certain frame removes this by showing certainty of a zero-priced third lemon.

108 people were told they were the head of an airline that was either 90% complete on a $10m plane project, or shown an equivalent $1m proposal to research and develop this plane. In both cases, a competitor had created a similar plane of superior quality.

In either case, should they still invest the $1m? Those in the 90% sunk cost condition were far more likely to keep on spending than those who had yet to invest anything.

Remind consumers of past personal efforts or the amount of time spent with the brand to increase feelings of a sunk cost. Reframing past efforts as incomplete or as ongoing progress will also induce the effect and assist sales. 

Test your product ideas sooner using a more agile product methodology. This will minimize time, cost and effort wasted on unproven potential failures to which you will become increasingly attached, especially if you’re personally accountable for their success.

Take 15 mins for mindfulness practice - focusing on the present moment and less on the past and future - to increase your resistance to the Sunk Cost bias. (Hafenbrack et al., 2013). Check out the Headspace app.