Elspeth is the co-author of Behavioral Insights (with Michael Hallsworth). She has held a number of roles at the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT). Most recently, she was the Senior Director responsible for BIT’s work on health, education, and local government in the UK. Prior to this role, she oversaw the establishment and growth of BIT’s North American office from New York. She has taught behavioural science at Harvard, acts as an expert advisor to a number of global institutions, and served as a Senior Fellow for Casey Family Programs, advising on the applications of behavioural and decision science to child welfare systems. Prior to joining BIT in 2013, Elspeth was a management consultant working with government clients around the world. Elspeth is currently on secondment at Nesta; an innovation charity that part-owns BIT.
The behavioral insights approach to design has often been top-down. A priority moving forward should be to incorporate more reflexive, dynamic, and nuanced forms of behavioral change. One promising way of doing so is to adapt principles from human centered design.
Fairy tales exemplify behavioral science in action (even if it’s unintentional), illustrating the power stories have to influence our thoughts and behavior.
Literature can open up a wider range of examples that illustrate core behavioral science principles.
Behavioral scientists take pride in the interdisciplinary nature of our research, yet we rarely draw on accounts of human nature generated outside of the social sciences.