TLDR: WATCH THE VIDEO (click above)
Ever grabbed a handful of M&Ms just because they were right in front of you? 🍫 I have—so If I wanted to design a situation where someone ate minimum M&Ms, I’d put the bowl really far from them. But maybe that’s because I come at the world from a behavioral economics POV. Ask an economist, and they’d come up with something very different—like the Fitbit screen I dissect in today’s teardown (spoiler: it doesn’t go well). 🙁
Economics vs. Behavioral Economics 📊
The M&M’s analogy gets to the heart of two very different POVS. Economics assumes people operate with stable, well-defined preferences and make rational choices. Behavioral economics, on the other hand, says that our choices are influenced, if not crafted, by our environment—be it social, emotional, or psychological. 🧠
Using this lens, when you design a product with the traditional economics worldview, you aim to understand and cater to a user's fixed preferences. But in the behavioral economics realm, the belief is that preferences are created at the time of decision-making—thus products have an influence on shaping them.
Fitbit's Fail 👎
What got me thinking about all this? I got a nudge from Fitbit: ‘Do you want to merge your Fitbit account with your Google account?’ Traditional economics would argue that if I decline, it's due to a solid preference against merging. Behavioral economics, on the other hand, would ask if my choice was influenced by the design of the screen, the timing of the prompt, or any other external factors.
How would it look if Fitbit used the behavioral economics perspective? Maybe the merger prompt would be woven seamlessly into my user experience, making it feel like a natural next step. Or maybe the prompt would be tied to a specific feature that’s unlocked when I merge my accounts. 💡
The Bigger Picture: Are Apps Truly Aligned with Users? 🤔
It’s just one little Fitbit screen. But it felt out of sync with my expectations and immediate needs as a user. The effect was jarring, and drove home an important point: the way we approach our work as PMs and designers can deeply influence our users’ interaction with it. So, are we merely laying out options or are we choreographing a digital journey? Are we designing from an economics POV, or siding with human behavior?
👉 3 things I cover in this teardown:
✅ Where economics & behavioral economics differ & what this means for PMs
✅ The importance of user context in shaping choices
✅ The power of nudges in decision-making through choice architecture design
Until next time, watch those M&Ms! 😄
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Questions about your product? Email kristen@irrationallabs.com.
Fitbit Google Migration Flow: The Economics (vs. Behavioral Economics) of Product Design 🚶♀️