First came across nudges being discussed at length in a book titled “Work Rules!” written by Laszlo Bock. Laszlo was the ex-Senior Vice President of People Operations, and he described how nudges were deployed to prompt people to make beneficial decisions at the right timing.
I thought nudges was an idiosyncratic term invented by Laszlo to describe the fine work he and his team had done. But it turned out that it is actually a popular behavioural science concept - and books have been written about it.
The obvious question then lies in how we can harness nudges here on Stacker News to make things better than they currently are. Of course, better is subjective, but I venture that it’s safe to say that many Stackers are cognisant of the trend of declining zaps. Some attribute it to the busy summer; others point out Million Sats Madness as one of the causes. Well, the thing is: no one exactly knows.
What will then be non-intrusive ways to encourage increased activity? There is a saying that goes, “Don’t preach to the converted.” Not all Stackers are bound to the addictive power of the cowboy hat, but for those who are, why not send a notification to Stackers who will lose their hat if they don’t zap something within the next hour? Sometimes, people lose their hats because they mistakenly think that they have zapped enough. Until Wham! the dreaded notification appears and they lose their emblem of honour.
No doubt, zapping someone just to keep my cowboy hat doesn’t feel organic. And I think that once I do get down to responding, I would zap 3 or 4 other comments since I’m already on it. It’s like how habit advocates suggest that we pick up a new habit - floss one tooth, exercise for the length of one song, etc. Once we get started, it’s easier to keep going.
Another nudge can be getting people who are being referred to fill in a simple form that will give the Stacker who brings him here some important information. Questions like “Would you like your referral know that you have joined SN because of him/her?” and “On what medium did you learn about SN?”
Very often, we get referrals, but we have no idea how and why we get them. Knowing that a new Stacker joined because of me through a particular platform makes me want to look out for him or her on the site. After all, the referral says I get are dependent on the level of success my referee enjoys here. Also, if I know that my referee is directed as a result of my blog, I will then spam post more strategic content there. Win-win situation!
What say you? What sort of nudges do you think Stacker News can leverage?