The Decision Corner The attention economy: Evelyn Gosnell
Aug 4, 2019
Evelyn Gosnell, Managing Director at Irrational Labs and Head of Product Development and Behavioral Science at Shapa, blends product design with behavioral economics. She discusses Shapa’s numberless scale and personalized habit missions. She questions nudging’s limits and stresses transparency and rapid testing. She also previews work on attention tools and practical paths into applied behavioral science.
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From Product Manager To Behavioral Scientist
- Evelyn recounts transitioning from product management into behavioral science after reading Predictably Irrational and connecting with Dan Ariely.
- She learned by doing contract work and later helped create a bootcamp to accelerate others' transitions.
Numberless Scale To Reduce Weight Anxiety
- Evelyn describes Shapa's numberless scale that shows colors instead of pounds to reduce loss aversion and noise interpretation.
- She explains the scale pairs with an app and daily missions to create habit change rather than punish fluctuations.
Reframe Feedback To Counter Loss Aversion
- Daily weighing produces noisy fluctuations that trigger loss aversion and a net negative relationship with the scale.
- Reframing feedback (like colors) highlights stable patterns and celebrates maintaining weight to improve motivation.
