Behavioral science research and human-centered design practices can help systems shape behavior for good. I provide trainings, technical assistance, education, and thought leadership on systems design and stakeholder engagement for organizations and broad audiences.
- Stakeholder Engagement in Teaching and Practice
- Thought Leadership on Systems Design
- Popular Press Articles
Stakeholder Engagement in Teaching and Practice
Stakeholder engagement is central in my research and in my teaching.
In the MBA classroom, I educate future leaders on the powers and pitfalls of stakeholder engagement. I use best practices on stakeholder engagement in the classroom, to make the material engaging and inviting.
MBA Lecture Evaluation Average: 4.91 out of 5
ucla anderson mba lecture evaluation
“Love how she engaged the class.”
“I liked the environment of the class. I felt comfortable participating.”
I aim to elevate the voices of end-users — the people for whom systems are designed. These stakeholders are rarely involved in system-level decision making, and it creates a huge blindspot. End-users are the experts on how organizational systems shape attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.
In a training with leaders of the largest community college school district in the United States, I championed end-users: Students. These students sat at a “Student Expert Table.” To successfully complete the training, district leaders had to intentionally seek out their expertise. What came of this? Students educated the district leaders on how perceptions of the student experience did not match reality, and pitched several actionable system improvements.
“My perspective grew. My empathy for students grew.”
workshop feedback from a District Leader
Thought Leadership on Systems Design
Imagine that you are designing an office cafeteria. Your main goal is to promote healthy eating. How would you design the cafeteria environment to reach this goal? What type of foods would you place first, at eye-level, and right next to the checkout counter?
As humans, we have an intuitive sense about how to structure the environment to promote certain behaviors. But this intuition is often ignored in organizational systems design. This cafeteria thought experiment, inspired by the book, Nudge, formed the basis for an interactive workshop I led with organizational leaders. Through training and technical assistance, I empowered managers to evaluate their organizational systems, define concrete goals, and implement changes that could improve the lives of their employees and clients.
In the following articles, my collaborators and I describe how behavioral insights can improve systems design:
- Show, Don’t Tell, Part 1: Using Nudges to Reach Program Goals | MDRC↗
- Show, Don’t Tell, Part 2: Strategies for Creating Nudges through Program Design | MDRC↗
- Getting Your Message Across with the Effective Communications Checklist | MDRC↗
- Five Evidence-Based Behavioral Science Practices for Social Services Agencies During COVID-19 – APHSA↗
- Behavioral Science Strategies to Increase Access to Child Care | MDRC↗
Popular Press Articles
I write about how behavioral science can help improve health, goal setting, and civic engagement:
Ilana Brody 