This is a summary review of The Smarter Screen containing key details about the book.

What is The Smarter Screen About?

“The Smarter Screen” by Shlomo Benartzi explores how technology affects our decision-making and provides strategies for using it more effectively. (Full Summary…)

The Smarter Screen Summary Review

“The Smarter Screen” by Shlomo Benartzi offers a profound exploration into the intricacies of decision-making in the digital age, shedding light on the often-overlooked biases and behavioral patterns that influence our choices on screens. In a world where office workers are constantly engaged with digital devices, Benartzi introduces a toolkit of interventions grounded in behavioral economics, aiming to enhance our decision-making processes.

The book delves into the fascinating realm of digital designs and how they exert surprising influences on our decisions. Benartzi employs engaging reader exercises and compelling case studies to illustrate how choices made on screens are subject to various biases and patterns. From the preference for certain food items when ordering online to the impact of screen reading on content retention, the author uncovers the subtle ways in which digital designs shape our behaviors.

A central theme is the attention economy, where the battle for our focus intensifies in an age of information overload. Benartzi contends that whoever commands attention emerges victorious, given the limited cognitive resources available to individuals bombarded with information. The book navigates through chapters that explore the mental screen, the relationship between form and function, biases inherent in our patterns of looking, the effects of digital feedback, the concept of desirable difficulty, digital tailoring, the paradox of choice, and the importance of thinking architecture.

One notable strength of “The Smarter Screen” lies in its application of behavioral economics to the digital realm. While some concepts may overlap with other works in the field, Benartzi distinguishes the book by offering a practical and applicable guide. The author emphasizes the need for a thoughtful approach to digital design, highlighting that the form follows function paradigm is insufficient in the context of the screen.

Drawing on insights from digital nudging research, Benartzi provides valuable tools and strategies for creating an online environment that fosters better decision-making. The book’s comprehensive coverage includes discussions on visual complexity, display biases, the impact of personalized content, the delicate balance of choice, and the benefits of introducing moments for reflection in the fast-paced digital landscape.

The real-world application of behavioral economics principles to the digital space makes this book a valuable resource for businesses, particularly those operating in the online realm. Whether one is involved in web design, marketing, or simply interested in understanding the cognitive dynamics behind screen-based decisions, “The Smarter Screen” offers a thought-provoking journey into the intersection of behavioral economics and digital interfaces.

Who is the author of The Smarter Screen?

Shlomo Benartzi is an American behavioral economist, known for his research on retirement savings and the Save More Tomorrow nudge. Benartzi is currently a Professor Emeritus at the UCLA Anderson School of Management in Los Angeles, California.

How long is The Smarter Screen?

• Print length: 256 pages

What genre is The Smarter Screen?

Nonfiction, Design, Psychology

What are good quotes from The Smarter Screen?

“After all, behavioral economists have spent years demonstrating the clear relationship between making something easy to do and getting people to actually do it. My very good friend and longtime collaborator Richard Thaler puts it this way: “My number-one mantra from Nudge [his book, cowritten with Cass Sunstein, on the application of behavioral economic principles to public policy] is, ‘Make it easy.’ When I say make it easy, what I mean is, if you want to get somebody to do something, make it easy. If you want to get people to eat healthier foods, then put healthier foods in the cafeteria, and make them easier to find, and make them taste better. So in every meeting I say, ‘Make it easy.’ It’s kind of obvious, but it’s also easy to miss.”

“For instance, Reinecke found that levels of education were statistically related to preferred levels of colorfulness, as people with graduate degrees preferred Web sites with little color.”

“We are so used to thinking of our conscious selves as in charge that all the evidence documenting our lack of control—how much we depend on split-second perceptions and aesthetic judgments—is rather scary.”

“according to a recent paper published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, patients failing to properly take their medication cost society somewhere between $100 billion and $289 billion every year.36 (It’s estimated that nearly 50 percent of prescriptions for chronic diseases are not used as prescribed.)37 Obesity, meanwhile, adds another $190 billion in direct health care costs. Drunk driving? $114 billion.38 Smoking? Nearly $290 billion.”

“Fortunes are made from scarcities, and the richest people are those who notice the scarcities first.”

“The lesson is simple: human attention has become the sweet crude oil of the twenty-first century. If you can control the levers of human attention, then you can essentially charge whatever you’d like.”

“There is a larger lesson here: we need to treat attention as a literal resource.”