Calling DIBS

Kirstin Appelt

Join host Kirstin Appelt, Research Director of UBC Decision Insights for Business & Society (UBC-DIBS), as she interviews Behavioural Insights enthusiasts and experts from BC and beyond to explore:

how BI is being used to tackle societal and planetary challenges,
how BI skills are used across sectors,
how BI intersects with other fields,
how to conduct BI projects,
and how BI is advancing with new research.

Liner notes: Calling DIBS is recorded and edited on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh). Calling DIBS is edited by Rishad Habib, Siobhan Cook, Isabella Jaramillo, Parnian Ashrafi, Kashish Khatri, and Kirstin Appelt. Intro and outro music are excerpts from “resonance” by airtone (2020; http://ccmixter.org/files/airtone/61321), licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0). New episodes are posted regularly September-May.

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The Evolving Practice of Behavioural Insights (Episode 78)

The Evolving Practice of Behavioural Insights (Episode 78)

Lindsay Miles-Pickup, Methods Specialist with the BC Behavioural Insights Group (BC BIG).In part one of this two-episode series inspired by Michael Hallsworth's "Manifesto for Applying Behavioural Science", Lindsay Miles-Pickup returns to the podcast to talk about how the practice of behavioural insights is changing and improving. Lindsay uses a recent project with BC Transplant on organ donation to illustrate how BC BIG has evolved how they scope projects, design evaluations, and analyze and interpret the resulting data.

Episodes

The Evolving Practice of Behavioural Insights (Episode 78)

The Evolving Practice of Behavioural Insights (Episode 78)

Lindsay Miles-Pickup, Methods Specialist with the BC Behavioural Insights Group (BC BIG).In part one of this two-episode series inspired by Michael Hallsworth's "Manifesto for Applying Behavioural Science", Lindsay Miles-Pickup returns to the podcast to talk about how the practice of behavioural insights is changing and improving. Lindsay uses a recent project with BC Transplant on organ donation to illustrate how BC BIG has evolved how they scope projects, design evaluations, and analyze and interpret the resulting data.

How to Make BI Projects & Partnerships Work (Episode 77)

How to Make BI Projects & Partnerships Work (Episode 77)

Ammaarah Martinus, Senior Program Office at UNESCO MGIEP.Ammaarah Martinus has applied BI in large organizations based in South Africa and India. Ammaarah shares how starting small, but strong helps build the necessary BI appetite and awareness for project success. She also shares other key requirements for rewarding BI project partnerships, including having unlike minds at the table, being willing to learn from and about each other, and sharing the same definition of success.

BI in Canada, Across Sectors and Organizations (Episode 76)

BI in Canada, Across Sectors and Organizations (Episode 76)

Meera Paleja, Program Head for Investor Research and Behavioural Insights at the Ontario Securities Commission.Over the last decade, Meera Paleja has worked in academia, management consulting, and different levels of government. Drawing on her diverse experiences, Meera shares a high-level look at BI in Canada and walks us through the similarities and differences in BI challenges and methods across organizations and sectors. We also talk about the benefits of bringing BI academics and practitioners together to enrich each other's work.

Questioning Assumptions to Understand Values & Behaviour (Episode 75)

Questioning Assumptions to Understand Values & Behaviour (Episode 75)

Jordyn Hrenyk, Michif researcher & PhD candidate at Simon Fraser University. Jordyn Hrenyk uses her background in strategy and entrepreneurship to study behaviour, business, and society at both the micro and macro levels. Jordyn's research portfolio questions a variety of implicit and explicit assumptions, such as how values are communicated through everyday business decisions, how entrepreneurs impact one another and create market norms, how business concepts are taught, and who can learn from Indigenous business leaders.

Applying BI to Financial Planning Challenges (Episode 74)

Applying BI to Financial Planning Challenges (Episode 74)

Brett Cloutier, Senior Research Manager at ATB Financial.From the BI perspective, personal finance is a classic example of an intertemporal choice problem where spending tomorrow depends on planning and saving today. Brett Cloutier is a UX/CX researcher who has added this type of BI lens to his work exploring barriers and solutions for financial planning. We talk about the importance of financial plans, areas of opportunity for BI, and the value of using qualitative research to complement quantitative research.

Applying BI in Humanitarian Settings (Episode 73)

Applying BI in Humanitarian Settings (Episode 73)

Britt Titus, Behavioral Insights Lead with the International Rescue Committee (IRC).Britt Titus applies BI to wicked problems in humanitarian settings around the world. These problems and settings require modifications to the standard BI approach to problem-solving. Britt walks us through how her team at the IRC has expanded the problem scoping phase to spend time: (1) validating assumptions with a variety of involved parties and (2) identifying leverage points that maximize impact and feasibility.

How Behavioural Insights & Data Science Intersect (Episode 72)

How Behavioural Insights & Data Science Intersect (Episode 72)

Craig Hutton, Senior Behavioural Scientist with the BC Behavioural Insights Group (BC BIG).In a great BI project, the behavioural and decision sciences provide the questions and data science provides the tools to answer those questions. As someone who is both a data scientist and a behavioural scientist, Craig Hutton is the ideal person to talk us through similarities, differences, and complementarities between these fields. Craig also shares best practices for managing, analyzing, and communicating about data.

Applying BI to Community Services Challenges (Episode 71)

Applying BI to Community Services Challenges (Episode 71)

Brianne Kirkpatrick, Principal Advisor with BIT Canada, & Ansley Dawson, Senior Manager, Financial Empowerment Program at WoodGreen Community Services.Ansley Dawson and Brianne Kirkpatrick tell us about their joint work using BI to support folks on social assistance. We focus on the innovative Income Transition Project, which is free social worker counselling to help folks understand the financial process of transitioning to employment. This project is a great illustration of how scoping, evaluation, and scaling can be tackled in a complex problem involving multiple partners, datasets, and outcomes that matter.

Secondary Research Helps Us Map & Understand the Evidence (Episode 70)

Secondary Research Helps Us Map & Understand the Evidence (Episode 70)

Stina Grant, Methods Specialist with the BC Behavioural Insights Group (BC BIG).Stina Grant joins us for a deep dive on secondary research. Stina walks us through the importance of understanding the existing evidence base -- what has been done in which context and to what effect. She shares tips for how to conduct good literature reviews, how to synthesize information from across sources, and how to feed in primary research. As Stina says, conducting secondary research is like finding the pieces to a puzzle and solving the mystery.

Nudges Work, But Context Matters (Episode 69)

Nudges Work, But Context Matters (Episode 69)

Stephanie Mertens, Behavioural Scientist at the Ontario Behavioural Insights Unit.Foundational research developing new theories. Applied research testing solutions in the field. Stephanie Mertens helps us explore different ways of contributing to the behavioural and decision sciences. She also shares her takeaways from her meta-analysis of BI's first decade: Nudges work, but we still have a lot to learn about how, when, and for whom. Stephanie explains how she applies these insights to her work developing and testing BI solutions.

How Behavioural Insights & Change Management Intersect (Episode 68)

How Behavioural Insights & Change Management Intersect (Episode 68)

Yarnel Bender, Associate Vice President, Corporate Change Management & Communications, at TD Bank.Changing behaviour and managing change are two inextricably linked processes. As someone who is both a change management expert and a BI practitioner, Yarnel Bender is the perfect person to talk us through how these two tools complement and enrich each other. We also talk about how to use BI in everyday work, how to communicate about BI, and the value of bringing your own background and expertise into your BI practice.

Laying the Groundwork for BI Projects (Episode 67)

Laying the Groundwork for BI Projects (Episode 67)

Jennifer Parisi, Manager of Marketing and Communications with Michael Smith Health Research BC. In her work across organizations in the health sector, Jen Parisi has come to appreciate the role that behaviours by patients, doctors, nurses, administrators, and others play in health outcomes. And, where there are behaviours, there are opportunities to use BI, from hand hygiene to program uptake to cultural safety and beyond. We discuss these opportunities and how initial BI projects can set the stage for future work by pinpointing the right questions to ask.

Behavioural Insights in Big Organizations (Episode 66)

Behavioural Insights in Big Organizations (Episode 66)

Daile MacDonald, Manager, Voice of the Customer & Behavioral Insights at WorkSafeBC. Daile MacDonald is a market researcher who added BI to her toolkit to be able to address the solution and research design questions that come out of exploratory research. Daile shares the obstacles and opportunities for behavioural insights in a big organization. In particular, she tells us about the rewards of using BI to reduce friction for internal processes, the value of collaboration and compromise, and the immense importance of scoping.

Hitting Snooze, Taking Out the Trash, & Other Everyday BI Opportunities (Episode 65)

Hitting Snooze, Taking Out the Trash, & Other Everyday BI Opportunities (Episode 65)

Kirstin Appelt, Research Director of UBC Decision Insights for Business & Society (UBC-DIBS).Guest host Lindsay Miles-Pickup puts Kirstin Appelt in the hot seat to answer which BI-based superpower she would like to acquire, where she succeeds and fails in using BI in daily life, and which everyday inconvenience she would love to tackle with BI. We also tackle more traditional topics like how people can integrate BI into their work, exciting applications of BI, and why "surprising" behaviour isn't always so unexpected when you dig deeper.

Understanding & Combatting Data Fraud (Episode 64)

Understanding & Combatting Data Fraud (Episode 64)

Dave Hardisty, Associate Professor of Marketing and Behavioural Science at UBC Sauder School of Business.Fraud has been a big story in the behavioural and decision sciences this summer. Dave Hardisty returns to the podcast to help us understand the incredible story of fraud in research about, well, fraud. We unpack what an accusation of data fraud means and how fraud is different from other bad practices, like p-hacking. We also explore the impacts of fraud and what we can all do about it, whether we're conducting our own research or reading/listening to others' research.

Searching for Positive Spillover (Episode 63)

Searching for Positive Spillover (Episode 63)

Jiaying Zhao, Associate Professor of Psychology and the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at UBC.Jiaying Zhao (JZ) returns to the podcast to discuss the recent i-frame vs. s-frame debate, which suggests that we need to choose individual (i) or systems (s) change. JZ counters the debate with evidence that the i-frame and s-frame can be complementary: Examples of positive spillover show that one behaviour change can beget another similar behaviour or attitude change. JZ shares why the field should try to create and measure spillover within and between people.

Be the Voice of the User (Episode 62)

Be the Voice of the User (Episode 62)

Brittany Burrows, Behavioural & Product Designer.In her career in behavioural and product design, Brittany Burrows draws on an understanding of human behaviour to design products and experiences that meet user needs. Brittany shares important lessons that apply to both design and BI projects: understand the problem before you create a solution, work across teams to ensure solutions are feasible, actively solicit feedback, and always know, love, and represent the user a.k.a. the population of interest.

Are You an Influencer? The Answer May Surprise You (Episode 61)

Are You an Influencer? The Answer May Surprise You (Episode 61)

Vanessa Bohns, Professor of Organizational Behaviour at Cornell University.Vanessa Bohns is a social psychologist whose research shows that we often have more influence on others than we think we do. Vanessa explains how this can be good (giving a compliment really does brighten someone's day) and bad (asking for a favour can make it hard for someone to say no). To do better, Vanessa suggests that both influencers and influencees should be mindful--mindful of how we ask and how we answer requests.

Frameworks Make It Easy (Episode 60)

Frameworks Make It Easy (Episode 60)

Whitney Queisser, Lifecycle Marketer.For Whitney Queisser, UBC's Advanced Professional Certificate in Behavioural Insights introduced her to frameworks that have changed how she tackles A/B testing as a lifecycle marketer. Whitney discusses how she uses the RIDE process model to structure her projects, the EAST and MINDSPACE frameworks to brainstorm behaviour change solutions, and ethics frameworks to guide her decision-making and ensure she's nudging for good.

Leave Room for Learning (Episode 59)

Leave Room for Learning (Episode 59)

Shannon McDonaugh, Program Manager in Behavioural Insights at the Nova Scotia Outpost for Public Sector Innovation.Shannon McDonaugh completed UBC's Advanced Professional Certificate in Behavioural Insights to have a methodology for how she uses BI to help improve the lives of Nova Scotians. Shannon shares some of these projects as well as advice for how individuals and organizations can start using BI ethically and thoughtfully. A key recommendation is to make space for learning during all phases of BI projects and all steps of our BI journeys.