Ego Depletion Reconsidered: What Self-Control Research Actually Shows
The willpower-as-fuel model cracked under scrutiny. Here's what replaces it for intervention design.
Measuring Behavior Change: Beyond Self-Report
Why people's accounts of their own behavior are systematically wrong—and what to measure instead
Behavioral Spillover: When One Change Leads to Another
Why some behavior changes trigger a cascade—and others quietly give people permission to stop trying.
Mindset Interventions: The Evidence for Belief-Based Change
Large-scale experiments reveal when mindset interventions work, when they don't, and why context decides
Self-Monitoring: The First Step in Behavior Change
Tracking behavior reliably starts change—but the evidence shows why it can't finish the job alone
Behavioral Contagion: How Behavior Spreads Through Networks
Experimental evidence reveals when behavior actually spreads through networks—and when it only looks like it does.
When Information Isn't Enough: The Limits of Knowledge-Based Interventions
Experimental evidence shows knowledge rarely changes behavior — here's what does
Timing Interventions: When to Deliver Behavior Change Messages
Experimental evidence shows when you deliver an intervention shapes outcomes as much as the intervention itself
Priming Effects: What Survives Scientific Scrutiny
Most priming research failed to replicate. Here's what actually survived the scrutiny.
Choice Overload: When More Options Mean Worse Decisions
Why having 24 jam varieties might leave you walking away empty-handed—and what that means for designing better choices.
Personalization in Behavior Change: When Tailoring Works
Why tailored interventions often fail to outperform generic ones—and when personalization actually makes a difference
Micro-Interventions: Small Actions With Cumulative Impact
Experimental evidence reveals when tiny behavioral nudges compound into meaningful change—and when they simply fade into noise.
Mental Contrasting: The Evidence for Dual-Focus Goal Pursuit
Why combining positive visualization with obstacle awareness outperforms either strategy alone
Why Incentives Backfire: The Hidden Costs of Rewards
When paying people to do something makes them want to do it less—and how to avoid the trap.
Why Gamification Often Fails: The Evidence on Game Elements in Behavior Change
Points and badges are easy to implement. They're also the game elements with the weakest evidence for sustained behavior change.
Why Social Norms Messages Miss the Mark: Precision in Normative Influence
Social norms shape behavior powerfully—but only when the reference group, norm type, and approval signals align precisely.
Friction: The Underrated Lever for Behavior Change
Tiny barriers and small conveniences shape behavior far more than motivation or willpower ever could
The Fresh Start Effect: Why Calendar Cues Create Change Opportunities
Research shows temporal landmarks boost goal pursuit—here's how to design interventions that leverage them.
Choice Architecture Beyond Nudges: Designing Behavioral Environments
How comprehensive environmental redesign produces behavior change that single nudges cannot achieve
Defaults That Shape Destiny: The Power of Pre-Selected Options
How pre-selected options quietly determine retirement savings, organ donations, and countless daily decisions through psychological forces most people never notice.
Loss Aversion in Practice: Designing Around Our Fear of Loss
Why losing £100 hurts more than gaining £100 helps—and how intervention designers can use this asymmetry ethically.
Why Commitment Devices Work: Binding Your Future Self
Research reveals why voluntarily limiting your future choices often produces better outcomes than relying on willpower alone.
Why Most Habit Tracking Apps Fail: The Measurement Problem
Your perfect streak might mean nothing—here's what experimental research says actually indicates lasting habit formation.
The Intention-Action Gap: Closing the Space Between Planning and Doing
Experimental research reveals why plans fail and which specific interventions reliably convert intentions into consistent action.
Feedback Loops in Behavior Change: Timing, Frequency, and Format
Why more feedback often backfires—and the experimental evidence for designing systems that genuinely improve performance
Precommitment Without Willpower: Automating Good Decisions
Why the most effective behavior change strategies eliminate repeated decisions entirely, making willpower irrelevant to lasting results.