The Irrational Mind | With Kristen Berman

The Irrational Mind | With Kristen Berman

Winemakers are experts at pricing. Dog trainers understand incentives. Magicians control attention. What can product and growth leaders learn from these behavior change experts? Join Kristen Berman as she uncovers the hidden benefits of psychologies that can help your product succeed.

Recent Episodes

Dec. 8, 2024

What design teams can learn from Headspace | Cal Thompson (VP of Product Design & Research, Headspace)

Cal Thompson is the VP of Product Design & Research at Headspace, where they lead a team dedicated to creating user-centered designs that drive real-world impact. Their focus is to combine design practices with rigorous rese…
May 31, 2022

How Do Yelp Reviews Shape Our Choices?

Trying something new is hard at the macro level. Yelp reviews reduce that uncertainty that comes with new things. But how do they help businesses achieve organic and meaningful reviews? In this episode, host Kristen Berman i…
May 17, 2022

How Does Asana Make Us More Accountable?

You’ve probably heard of Asana or maybe you already use it in your workplace. In this episode, Paige Costello, Core Product Leader at Asana, joins the show to explain the features that help codify and amplify some of the key…
April 19, 2022

How Does Affirm Get Us to Buy Now Pay Later?

In the last few years, buy now pay later has become the hottest development in the digital payment space. The flexibility of this type of models can bring many benefits for companies that know how to implement them, but the …
April 5, 2022

How Does Match Make Dating Easier?

What are the most common mistakes people make looking for love online - and how do apps try to solve them? In this episode, host Kristen Berman talks with Jin Chua and Matt Gray, a pair of product leaders working at Match, o…
March 22, 2022

How Did Lyft Change The Way We Ride?

Let’s take a ride into some of the behavioral principles that made Lyft a trustworthy transportation solution for millions. In this episode, host Kristen Berman is joined by the almighty Kira Wampler. Kira has had a wildly i…

About the Host

Kristen Berman Profile Photo

Kristen Berman

Kristen Berman studies how people actually act in the marketplace, as opposed to how they should or would perform if they were completely rational.

She is a leading expert in behavioral economics and the co-founder of Irrational Labs, a company focused on applying behavioral insights to product design that she co-founded with Dan Ariely in 2013. Kristen also co-founded Common Cents Lab, a Duke University initiative dedicated to improving the financial well-being for low to middle Americans. She led 50+ experiments with companies there that touched tens of thousands of lives.

She was on the founding team for Google's behavioral economics group, which spans 26 teams, and has hosted one of the top behavioral change conferences globally, StartupOnomics. She also co-authored the workbook series "Hacking Human Nature for Good: A Practical Guide to Changing Behavior" – now used by Google, Intuit, Netflix, Fidelity, and Lending Club – with Dan Ariely.

Before blazing trails in behavioral economics, Kristen was a Senior Product Manager at Intuit. Not only is she deeply passionate about uncovering the true drivers of human behavior and building solutions that are good for people – she also lives behavioral science as the founder of Radish, a communal living environment where she and friends design their lives for happiness.