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Home ›› Psychology and Human Behavior

Psychology and Human Behavior

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Gamification 2.0. Beyond Points and Badges: Designing for Players, Not Metrics. Chapter 1: The Problem

  • Behavioral Design, Game Design, Gamification Series, Player Engagement, Product Design, Psychology and Human Behavior, User Psychology, UX Design

Discover why the points, badges, and streaks in your favorite apps aren’t really gamification.

Article by Montgomery Singman
IDEAS IN BRIEF
Gamification 2.0. Beyond Points and Badges: Designing for Players, Not Metrics. Chapter 1: The Problem
  • The piece claims that most apps misuse gamification, copying superficial mechanics like points and badges that trick rather than motivate people, and that the experience itself is what truly drives engagement, just like good games do.
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4 min read

Consent Fatigue: Are We Designing People into Compliance?

  • Behavioral Design, Cognition, Dark Patterns, Ethical Design, Ethical UX Series, Privacy and Data Security, Psychology and Human Behavior, User Psychology, UX Design

Find out how clicking “Accept All” is not really consent and how ethical UX design can return user choice to users.

Article by Tushar Deshmukh
IDEAS IN BRIEF
Consent Fatigue: Are We Designing People into Compliance?
  • The article shows that consent fatigue is not a user problem but a design problem in which endless permission popups, visual manipulation, and legal-shield thinking have quietly replaced real user autonomy with engineered compliance.
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10 min read

The Psychology of Nudges: Why the Smallest Design Element Can Shift the Biggest Outcomes

  • Behavioral Design, Cognition, Dark Patterns, Ethical UX Series, Human-Centered Design, Psychology and Human Behavior, UX Design, UX Research

Learn how the smallest design decisions, a default checkbox, a colored button, and a progress bar, have the biggest ethical weight.

Article by Tushar Deshmukh
IDEAS IN BRIEF
The Psychology of Nudges: Why the Smallest Design Element Can Shift the Biggest Outcomes
  • The piece draws a sharp line between nudges and dark patterns by asking one question: who benefits, the user or the platform? Same tools, opposite ethics.
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6 min read

Acquired Savant Syndrome in Design: Skill, Obsession, or Exploitation?

  • Behavioral Design, Cognitive Science, Design Ethics, Empathy, Ethical UX Series, Neuroscience, Psychology and Human Behavior, UX Design, UX Research

Find out how UX culture mistakes burnout for brilliance and what it’s really costing designers, researchers, and the products they build.

Article by Tushar Deshmukh
IDEAS IN BRIEF
Acquired Savant Syndrome in Design: Skill, Obsession, or Exploitation?
  • The piece explores the metaphorical parallels between acquired savant syndrome and modern UX culture, arguing that the industry dangerously romanticizes obsession and burnout-driven brilliance over sustainable skill and calling on designers, researchers, and leaders to redefine excellence through ethical, well-paced, and mentally healthy creative practice.
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6 min read

Cognitive Empathy: Your Everyday Survival Tool

  • Cognition, Emotional Intelligence, Empathy, Psychology and Human Behavior, Self-Awareness

Discover how cognitive empathy helps navigate complexity, resolve conflict, and build stronger connections in a divided world.

Article by Pavel Bukengolts
IDEAS IN BRIEF
Cognitive Empathy: Your Everyday Survival Tool
  • The article explores cognitive empathy: the ability to understand others’ perspectives rather than simply feel their emotions, positioning it as an essential skill for navigating today’s polarized, noise-filled world, with practical tips and real-life examples across workplace and personal contexts.
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4 min read

The Psychology of Defaults: How Pre-Selected Options Influence Behavior

  • Behavioral Design, Design Ethics, Ethical UX Series, Psychology and Human Behavior, User Psychology, UX Design

Find out how pre-selected options silently shape decisions, and what ethical designers must do about it.

Article by Tushar Deshmukh
IDEAS IN BRIEF
The Psychology of Defaults: How Pre-Selected Options Influence Behavior
  • The article argues that defaults quietly guide user decisions through inaction, making them far more powerful than most designers realize.
  • It highlights that they work by exploiting natural human tendencies like status quo bias and the assumption that pre-selected options are “recommended.”
  • The piece emphasizes that ethical design doesn’t eliminate defaults but uses them transparently, with user intent and easy reversibility at the core.
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5 min read
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