The Law of Least Effort
5 concepts to master
Law of Least Effort
ConceptPeople naturally choose the option requiring the least amount of work when deciding between similar options.
How It Works
Energy is precious, and the brain is wired to conserve it, leading individuals to gravitate towards actions that minimize effort while maximizing value.
Friction (in Behavior Change)
ConceptFriction refers to the effort or difficulty associated with performing a particular behavior.
How It Works
Increased friction makes a behavior less likely to occur, while reduced friction makes it more likely, by influencing the amount of energy required to initiate and maintain the behavior.
Environment Design
ConceptEnvironment design is optimizing your surroundings to make desired actions easier and undesired actions harder.
How It Works
By strategically placing cues and reducing obstacles in the environment, individuals are more likely to perform desired behaviors and less likely to engage in undesired ones.
Addition by Subtraction
ConceptAchieving better results by removing obstacles, friction, or wasted effort from a process or system.
How It Works
Eliminating inefficiencies and unnecessary steps streamlines processes, making it easier to achieve desired outcomes with less energy and resources.
Priming the Environment
ConceptPreparing a space or setting it up in advance to make the next desired action easier to perform.
How It Works
By organizing and arranging elements in the environment, you reduce the activation energy required to initiate a behavior, making it more likely to occur.