Episodes

Julie King is a renowned parenting expert, author, and workshop leader who has dedicated her career to helping parents communicate more effectively with their children. She is the co-author of two bestselling books: "How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen” and "How to Talk When Kids Won't Listen”. Julie joined this episode to discuss: The trick to get kids to leave the park (and your users to retain) The secret framing solution for showing kids (and users) their progress The way to ask some...

Mac Namara is an expert dog trainer who specializes in positive reinforcement techniques. She runs Puppy Prep, a company designed to help new dog owners set their puppies up for success from day one through science-based training methods. In our conversation, we explore: Why the speed of reinforcement (every 6 seconds!) is critical for behavior change How to train in short, focused bursts rather than lengthy sessions The importance of environment design over willpower or personality traits ...

Christine May helped spearhead behavioral science at Noom, shaping it into an engine for user segmentation and accountability. As their former Head of Behavioral Science, she championed Noom’s “big picture” motivation model—tying everyday habits to goals—and played a role in scaling one-on-one coaching into a digital system for millions. Now, Christine helps consumer tech startups build habit-forming experiences rooted in evidence-based psychology. In our conversation, we explore: The boo...

Marin Alsop is a world-renowned conductor and the first woman to lead major orchestras internationally. The subject of the Emmy-nominated documentary "The Conductor” and formerly Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, she’s Chief Conductor of the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Ravinia Festival, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra. She has recorded 200+ titles and is the only conductor to receive a MacArthur Fellowsh...

David Gerard is one of Silicon Valley's most sought-after magicians and mentalists, performing over 90 shows annually for Fortune 500 companies and tech industry leaders. Before pursuing magic full-time, David spent 12 years in tech, starting at Google where he worked on flagship products including YouTube, AdWords, and Google Play, before leading growth and marketing initiatives at Discord and Aalto. Now, David combines his expertise in product growth with his mastery of psychological principle...

Orson Scott Card is the author of Ender’s Game, one of the most influential science fiction novels ever written, and its sequel Speaker for the Dead, among other bestselling works. Ender’s Game is widely read in schools across the US and has been included in some educational curricula. In our conversation, we explore: His approach to creating page-turners: Why telling users what's coming beats clever "hooks" His method of ensuring the reader understands his writing (great for design t...

Kristina Gibson most recently was the CPO at Dott, accelerating their growth to over 100M rides annually. She led the merger with TIER to form Europe’s largest e-bike and scooter operator. She is a former Director of Product at Booking.com, where she pioneered user growth strategy across global markets. As an early product leader at Lyft, she architected the company's expansion into new cities and innovative verticals. At Eventbrite, Kristina transformed the business from a US-only operation t...

Dan Petroski is the founder and winemaker of Massican Wines. Massican was recently acquired by Gallo and is the only solely white wine producer in Napa Valley—a region famed for reds. Dan is known as a world-class marketer, combining storytelling, positioning and distribution insights to make Massican what it is today. In our conversation, we discuss: The theory of pricing (and the sweet spot in wine pricing) Why you should build your distribution channel before the product The key to buildin...

Joel Burgess, co-founder of Soft Rains, and Dan Vader, Creative Director at Capybara Games, are the minds behind Grindstone, one of the most acclaimed indie puzzle games in recent years. Joel has worked on iconic titles like Watch Dogs: Legion and Skyrim. Dan, a long-time creative force at Capybara, has shaped the studio’s reputation with beloved games like Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP. Together, Joel and Dan bring a fresh perspective on game design, combining narrative depth with challeng...

Cal Thompson is the VP of Product Design & Research at Headspace, where they lead a team dedicated to creating user-centered designs that drive real-world impact. Their focus is to combine design practices with rigorous research to help users achieve their meditation goals. Before Headspace, Cal served as a Design Director at Fjord San Francisco. In this episode, we explore: What key metric Headspace measures for active use The small feature change that increased engagement The...

Trying something new is hard at the macro level. Yelp reviews reduce that uncertainty that comes with new things. But how do they help businesses achieve organic and meaningful reviews? In this episode, host Kristen Berman is joined by Akhil Kuduvalli Ramesh, VP of Consumer Product at Yelp. He explains why Yelp prefers quality over quantity when it comes to reviews and how your Yelp review creates community and helps new businesses. They also talk about high-frequency low-risk experience while t...

You’ve probably heard of Asana or maybe you already use it in your workplace. In this episode, Paige Costello, Core Product Leader at Asana, joins the show to explain the features that help codify and amplify some of the key components that make work to actually work. We talk about interesting concepts such as deadline visibility, social loafing, long-term planning and authentic acts of recognition. Let's take a look at what work actually is and which are the most important (and sometimes hidden...

In the last few years, buy now pay later has become the hottest development in the digital payment space. The flexibility of this type of models can bring many benefits for companies that know how to implement them, but the irrational decisions that can arise should also be part of a company's responsibility. In this episode, our host Kristen Berman talks with Nupur Kantamneni, responsible for Consumer Product, one of three product pillars at Affirm. We delve into the behavioral strategies that ...

What are the most common mistakes people make looking for love online - and how do apps try to solve them? In this episode, host Kristen Berman talks with Jin Chua and Matt Gray, a pair of product leaders working at Match, one of the largest dating platforms in the US. They both share fundamental product design decisions to increase engagement between users, as well as the company’s philosophy on attraction and the hard work from their team of dating experts giving super useful insight. Listen a...

Let’s take a ride into some of the behavioral principles that made Lyft a trustworthy transportation solution for millions. In this episode, host Kristen Berman is joined by the almighty Kira Wampler. Kira has had a wildly incredible career launching and growing dozens of products. We talk about her time at Lyft: diving into the brand’s core philosophy of “treating better” and how rating systems and incentives took Lyft into a more human approach. We also discuss her current efforts at Redesign ...

Bert Lui is Co-founder & CPO at SetSail, an AI-powered sales tracking, motivation, and empowerment solution. Not only have they changed the classic incentive system within sales organizations, they figured out how to drive the right behaviors within that incentive system in sales. We deep dive on the trade-offs between extrinsic and intrinsic motivations, how being charismatic affects your sales, the thin line between compliments and gratitude and the pros and cons of quotas. So let's get ready ...

Letting a person into your home involves a careful evaluation process, but with the right behavioral principles, it can become a task that you can easily perform from your smartphone. In this episode, the talented Product Leader Jiaona Zhang shares the most significant lessons learned while being part of the Product Development team in Airbnb, such as the importance of progress trackers, real time feedback and host measurement beyond the guest reviews. Listen and learn how to build experiences t...

It’s well known that Netflix has made history by revolutionizing the way we consume and interact with TV series and movies. This process has required considerable experimentation and result testing, leading to the invention of a past time we now know and love: binge-watching. In this episode, Gibson Biddle, one of the leaders who established the fundamentals for Netflix success joins the show to have an insightful conversation from what predicts our movie preferences to conversion rates of free ...

Next week, behavioral scientist and co-founder of Irrational Labs Kristen Berman returns. This time, she’s sitting down with even more product pioneers and thought leaders from your favorite apps. You’ll hear conversations with guests like former Netflix product head Gibson Biddle as Kristen gets to the bottom of binge-watching. Listen to marketing powerhouse Kira Wampler breaking down how Lyft got us to ride in cars with strangers. VP of Webflow and former product leader at Airbnb explains h...

The Science of Change host and behavior scientist Kristen Berman is back again to save you from another classic holiday blunder: not keeping your New Year's Resolution. In this mini-isode, Kristen breaks down three behavior science principles that will help make sure your resolution sticks in 2022. Hint: one might involve getting a furry friend. But the best resolution of all? Make sure you follow and like The Science of Change for all-new episodes starting this January. Episode resources Tha...

The holidays are here and that means it’s the season for gift giving! But how can you make sure you’re giving the right gift this year? In this mini-sode, our host Kristen Berman uses behavior science to unwrap three common mistakes we make in exchanging gifts, as well as some tips on how to avoid them. Remember not all gifts are bought, sometimes we can put our creativity to work and think of something to give that will contribute to someone else's life in an unexpected way. Let's jump in! E...

Who said numbers ain’t fun? When it comes to football and sports in general, many fans try to develop a new way to connect with the game through analytics and predictions based on stats. Data research has become so important that it now determines how teams make decisions and how they operate as a whole, defining what their strategy is and even becoming the key to winning a championship. In this episode, host Kristen Berman talks with Eric Eager, VP of Research and Development at Pro Football Fo...

What is the perfect job for you? In a world with thousands of companies and millions of job seekers, what’s the most efficient way of finding your dream job? In this episode of The Science of Change, our host Kristen Berman talks to Ada Yu, Director of Product Management at LinkedIn, to understand how this platform helps people and companies find the perfect match while mitigating bias, helping seekers apply for the right openings, and making the hiring processes much easier for everyone. Job si...

Americans have a complicated relationship with diets, and obesity is a global epidemic rapidly becoming the single most preventable cause of costly chronic diseases. To talk about the difficulties of weight loss and how to overcome them, our host Kristen Berman talks to Julie O’Brien, behavioral scientist and former head of Applied Behavioral Science at WW. There are a ton of diets and weight loss programs out there, so does Weight Watchers actually work? What strategies have they developed to t...