Kristen Berman
Design the Room, Not the Rules
Inspired by Kristen Berman episode
Behavioral science shows environment design beats willpower every time. Stop demanding compliance, start arranging furniture.
Kristen Berman runs Irrational Labs where they've helped Google, TikTok, and Airbnb change user behavior. The insight? You can't rely on people to just decide better. You have to make the right choice the easy choice.
So you're asking your toddler not to touch the outlets. Forty-seven times. Per day. You're basically running a user study on willpower, and spoiler alert: willpower loses to a shiny socket every single time.
You could demand they stop throwing blocks at the TV. Or you could move the blocks to literally any other room. You're trying to solve a behavioral problem with verbal reminders when the environment is screaming "throw things at screens!"
Environmental design beats enforcement. Not because it's noble. Because you're tired.
Look around your space right now. What are you fighting that you could just... remove? The snacks you said no to seventeen times are still on the counter at eye level. The markers that only work "at the table" are in the living room. You're the PM who keeps running A/B tests instead of just fixing the button.
