This document discusses the importance of understanding human decision making and brain science. It provides an overview of how the brain works, specifically focusing on cognitive biases and how emotions drive most decisions. Examples are given of how subtle contextual factors can influence judgments and choices. The key points made are that the brain is lazy and seeks to minimize energy, emotions are programmed by evolution to release chemicals like dopamine and serotonin, and most decisions are made unconsciously through automatic habits rather than conscious rational thought. Understanding brain science allows one to design more effective products, services, and experiences that influence behavior.

1. Behavioral engineering
Matskevich Dmitry
Co-founder: Flocktory.com, Relap.io
Advisory board: Chatfuel.com, Finalprice.com

2. Behavioral
engineering
Brain science
behind

3. Overview
1. Why understanding human decision
making mechanics is so important?
2. Brain science for 15 minutes
3. Cases to the point

4. Bad news
An hour later
you will
completely
forget 80% of
this content

5. Good news to everyone
This will change
add new
cognitive toolkit
to your pattern
recognition
system!

6. 1. Why understanding human decision
making mechanics is important?
2. Brain science for 15 minutes
3. Cases to the point

7. First-Wave View of the Value
Proposition
B1 (Vb) + B2 (Vp)
Value from Benefits
(tangible/intangible)
Value from Prices
How sensitive is to the benefits and to
the price

8. Second-Wave View of the Value
Proposition
B1(C) + B2 (Vb) + B3 (Vp)
• Cognitive value (Emotional) can be shaped by aspects completely
unrelated to Vb and to Vp
• One can ignore E and still hope to create a sustainable superior
Customer Value Proposition

9. Third emerging-Wave View of the
Value Proposition
B1(C)*{B2 (Vb) + B3 (Vp)}
Interactively shapes Vb, Vp:
Not only a superior value proposition, but also
Confident decisions, greater commitment, positive word of mouth,
and experience utility.

10. Emotion not reason drive most of
our decisions

11. Where great ideas come from?

12. Lean startup?

13. You can’t just test hundreds of
hypos and wait if you are was so
lucky to pick the winning one

14. “There are two kinds of secrets:
secrets of nature
and
secrets about people”
Peter Thiel

15. Secrets
people don’t
know about
themselves
Secrets
people hide
because they
don’t want
others to know
Secrets about people

16. Your job is to reveal these
secrets

17. Can we just directly ask people
about those secrets?

18. Humans are terrible at
predicting the future
By economist Andrew Clark 2007 Life satisfaction

19. By neuroscientist David Eagleman
Humans are terrible at recalling
the past

20. 1. Why understanding human decision
making mechanics is important?
2. Brain science for 15 minutes
3. Cases to the point

21. Getting into
others mind 101

22. Brain is lazy and trying hard to
minimize energy consumption
1

23. Lazy brain => cognitive biases

25. You can’t just say no to biases

26. You can’t just say no to biases

27. Energy for decision making could
be more limited resource than
money
Kahneman
Opt-in
organ Donation
Opt-out
organ Donation
4% and 12%
in two European
countries
86% and nearly 100%
in two European
countries

28. People always make snap
judgements.
What do you fear more?
More than 1 million
deaths a year
Several deaths
a year

29. 2 You are not alone in your head

30. People are not rational by design

31. Prefrontal
cortex
rationalizes
Amygdala
and Limbic
system
decide
Confabulation

32. Neurons that fire together
wired together
3

33. People make harsher moral
judgments in foul-smelling rooms
(discussed as moral emotion)
Schnall, 2008 in Personality and social psychology

34. People will judge a stranger to be
more generous and carrying than
they hold hot coffee vc iced coffee
Williams Senbarg 2008 science

35. An affect of context and
accessibility

36. The very labels intended to
frighten smokers were, in fact, a
cue to smoke
Martin Lindstrom in Buyology notes that tobacco warning labels were found to stimulate craving
for tobacco.

37. Our brain is changing itself
Our brain is constantly changing is
response to our experience and behavior,
reprograming itself on the fly
This means: Technology influences
behavior and shapes our habits

38. Texting – is the fastest-growing
behavior within the social over the
past five years

39. Traffic tickets pay rate increased by
50% leveraging the right pattern

40. Our emotions are programmed
with chemicals by evolution
4

41. Get free dopamine for every check
of your fridge

42. Any flow of events with high
variability and low predictability
generate stable supply of
dopamine
Newsfeeds porn
Political porn
Apocalyptic porn
Sport porn
Startup porn

43. The key factor affecting % of
prisoners granted parole - the time
that the judge spent after a meal
0%
40%
20%
60%
%ofprisonersgrantedparole
Time of the dayStart of work day End of a day
Morning snack. Lunch
It depends on serotonins level that is influences by age, time of the day, stress

45. Love formula
1.Stage
Oxytocin
• Build
relationship
• Unlearn
previous habits
2. Stage
Dopamine
• Craving
• Excitement
Serotonin
• Comfort/Habit
• Cognitive ease
• Trust

46. Most of the time you are in
zombie mode
Perceived self Real self
5

47. Habit forming =>
long-term product success

48. BJ Fogg framework

49. The Hook by Nir Eyal
ActionTrigger
Investment
Variable
reward
External
Internal
External
Internal

50. Are there any free will left?

51. Most of recent studies our
actions and experiences are
shaped at the instinctual level

52. Stop making
vitamin or
painkiller
products
Make drugs
instead

53. 1. Why understanding human decision
making mechanics is important?
2. Brain science for 15 minutes
3. Cases to the point

54. Instagram addiction

55. Instagram
Amplify your personal
experience through social
validation

56. Houzz porn

57. Houzz
Every day something new
to desire
Never ending dopamine –
oxytocin cycle

58. Tinder social validation

59. Tinder
Reduce the cognitive load
of social acceptance

60. Cognitive toolkit:
“Approved by Brain Science”

61. 1. Cognitive ease
Causes and Consequences of Cognitive Ease by Daniel Kahneman

62. 2. Emotions / Emotional design
Lövheim cube of emotion

63. 3. Habits
Nir Eyal Bj Fogg

64. Good reading

65. Have you read all these books
already?
m.me/dmitry.matskevich
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