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PLAIN TALK BUSINESS


Make the change that you delay, because people who changed were happier
In a study of about 20,000 coin flips, people who got a coin result for a big change made the change more often. After 6 months, the people who made the change were happier.
Oct 102 min read


Show customers how they compare with similar customers
A study of 600,000 US homes found that letters that compared the energy use of each home with its neighbors decreased energy use by about 2%. The effect was similar to a price increase of 11% to 20%.
Oct 102 min read


Measure AI code tools on real work, where developers finished 26% more tasks
3 field experiments with 4,867 developers tested an AI code assistant at Microsoft, Accenture and a Fortune 100 company. Developers with the tool finished 26% more tasks.
Oct 102 min read


Check which tasks AI does well before you trust it
A study with 758 BCG consultants found that AI made them faster and better on tasks that AI does well. On a task that AI does badly, consultants with AI were 19 percentage points less likely to be correct.
Oct 102 min read


Use AI for first drafts of business writing
In an MIT experiment with 453 professionals, ChatGPT decreased the time for writing tasks by 40%. The quality of the writing increased by 18%.
Oct 102 min read


Give AI assistants to your newest support agents first
A study of 5,179 support agents found that an AI assistant increased the number of problems that agents solved per hour by 14%. New and less skilled agents improved by 34%. The best agents improved very little.
Oct 102 min read


Test before you remove options, because more choice often does no harm
A review of 50 experiments with 5,036 people found that, on average, more choice did not decrease purchases. The effect was large in some studies. In other studies, there was no effect.
Oct 102 min read


End each user session on a good moment
A trial with 682 colonoscopy patients found that patients remembered a slightly longer procedure with a gentler end as less painful. These patients were also more likely to return.
Oct 102 min read


Invite users to start new habits on Mondays and other new starts
Gym visits, searches for "diet" and goal sign-ups all increased after fresh-start dates. Fresh-start dates are dates such as a new week, a new month and a birthday.
Oct 102 min read


Give your developers an AI code assistant for clear, well-defined tasks
In a GitHub test with 95 developers, the group with GitHub Copilot finished a coding task 55.8% faster than the group without it.
Oct 102 min read


Show users the work that your product does while they wait
Harvard tests on travel and dating sites found that people often liked a slower search more when the site showed the work that it did. When people saw the effort, the result felt more valuable.
Oct 102 min read


Test small ideas too, because 1 of them can be worth millions
At Bing, a small change to the ad headlines increased revenue by 12%. Nobody tested the idea for months, because the team thought that it was not important.
Oct 102 min read


Help users get value from a flat fee, or they will leave
A study of 7,752 gym members found that people on a monthly plan paid more than $70 a month and went 4.3 times. They paid about $17 per visit when a $10 visit pass was available.
Oct 102 min read


Let users build part of the product, and they will value it more
In a Harvard test, people who built an IKEA box themselves would pay 63% more for it. The same box built by someone else was worth less to them.
Oct 102 min read


Turn on the good option for users, and let them turn it off
When a large US company enrolled new staff in its retirement plan by default, the share in the plan went from 37% to 86%. Most people also kept the default savings rate.
Oct 102 min read


Choose your defaults with care, because most users keep them
In an online test, 82% of people stayed organ donors when that was the default. Only 42% chose it when they had to opt in.
Oct 102 min read


Be careful with late fees, because a small fine can make people late more
When day care centers in Israel added a small fine for late pick-up, late pick-ups almost doubled. They stayed high after the fine was removed.
Oct 102 min read


Show your highest-value option first, because the first number sets the scale
In an MIT test, students wrote the last two digits of their social security number before they bid on products. Students with high numbers bid 216% to 346% more.
Oct 102 min read


Give customers a head start on loyalty cards
At a car wash, a 10-stamp card with 2 free stamps was finished by 34% of customers. An 8-stamp card with no free stamps was finished by only 19%, although both needed 8 washes.
Oct 102 min read


Show fewer choices at the point of sale, and test the result
In a store test, 24 jams brought more people to the table, but only 3% bought. With 6 jams, 30% of the visitors bought.
Oct 102 min read
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