Friday, October 24, 2008

Nudge

I'd like to recommend the book Nudge by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein. The foundation of the book is how and why people make the decisions they do - and why people are rarely the completely "rational" beings that underlie so much economic theory (a very timely topic given the current financial travails).

Besides being a very interesting and engaging read, this book does have a lot of applicability to the challenges of high-variety manufacturing. So much of customer interaction for HVM companies is about managing choices, and Nudge offers an excellent guide to "choice architecture." It underscores the importance of understanding the motivation of your customer. It also provides insight into product management and sales strategies - and why making all options available during the configuration process is not a good idea.

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