Jaewoo teaches and writes about design thinking, behavioral economics, and field experiment for customer experience. He is professor of marketing and participating professor of experience design at Kookmin University. Jaewoo has been Visiting Scholar at Stanford University since September 2024.
The Korean art scene has seen dynamic shifts in recent years. This change is tied to the rise of “Hallyu” or the Korean Wave, which has popularized Korean music (BTS), drama (Squid Game), and food (Kimbop).
Hallyu has pushed even non-Korean artists to explore personal themes in their work. This is seen in the exhibition currently on display at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco. Japanese artist, Etsu Egami, collaborated with a K-pop celebrity, Lee Byung-hun. Her work showcases how art transcends language barriers. It also shows Korean art works are now reaching wider audiences, challenging the boundaries of conventional art forms.
As Korea continues to celebrate its artistic innovation, it opens doors for cross-cultural exchanges.
On a recent visit to the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in Los Angeles, I was struck by the “salon style” display of paintings—a densely arranged presentation that contrasts with today’s minimalistic museum trend.
A “salon style” hang not only looks different from how most museums are arranged today-it also changes the viewer’s experience. Instead of presenting works individually, with lots of space, the crowded layout puts paintings in a network, encouraging comparison and debate. Salon artists felt reaccured if their pictures were hung at eye level, and lamented when they were “skied” close to the ceiling. Placement of particular works was determined by level of detail, the hierarchy of genres (a tradition prioritizing history and religious paintings) and, most importantly, the personal politicis of the Academy.
Unlike the single-piece-focused, widely spaced approach seen in contemporary galleries, salon-style hanging places artworks in close clusters, prompting viewers to think differently. Psychologically, this arrangement affects perception in two ways.
First, works displayed at eye level attract more attention—a phenomenon known as “eye level, buy level.” It is well known that eye-level placement in retail settings drives choices. Similarly, artists historically loved this prime placement, aiming to capture viewers’ gaze.
Second and more importantly, viewers are inclined to compare artworks side by side. This phenomenon aligns with Hsee’s research on “joint evaluation (JE) versus separate evaluation (SE). When items are displayed jointly, people place greater emphasis on attributes that may otherwise be hard to assess, fostering a richer, multi-dimensional engagement with items. In historical salons, this might have encouraged viewers to notice intricate qualities in each painting, which might go overlooked today when artworks are displayed individually in modern galleries.
Building on these insights with another pieces of insights found ten years ago at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Boston, museum directors must carefully consider how presentation contexts shape visitor experiences. Museum visitors, like consumers, are influenced by cognitive biases and contextual cues, making behavioral economics principles crucial for optimizing the museum experience.”
This research demonstrates a less-is-better effect in three contexts: (1) a person giving a $45 scarf as a gift was perceived to be more generous than one giving a $55 coat; (2) an overfilled ice cream serving with 7 oz of ice cream was valued more than an underfilled serving with 8 oz of ice cream; (3) a dinnerware set with 24 intact pieces was judged more favourably than one with 31 intact pieces (including the same 24) plus a few broken ones. This less-is-better effect occurred only when the options were evaluated separately, and reversed itself when the options were juxtaposed. These results are explained in terms of the evaluability hypothesis, which states that separate evaluations of objects are often infuenced by attributes which are easy to evaluate rather than by those which are important.
It is Election Day, and these photos capture an intriguing scene for those who may wonder how American students engage in voting. Here, a line of students stretches out the door, each person waiting patiently to cast their vote—a sight that demonstrates just how seriously these young adults take their role in shaping the future.
Yet, some students saw the long queue ahead questioned: “Does my vote really matter?” and “Do I really make a difference?” These sentiments resonate with many, reflecting the common struggle between civic duty and individual doubt.
Ultimately, these snapshots remind me that, despite geographical and cultural differences, the act of voting holds a universal significance. Whether here in Stanford or in Korea, each vote really matters, which is why it is essential to inspire people to visit the voting centers and participate in the electoral process.
Human behaviour is thought to spread through face-to-face social networks, but it is difficult to identify social influence effects in observational studies, and it is unknown whether online social networks operate in the same way. Here we report results from a randomized controlled trial of political mobilization messages delivered to 61 million Facebook users during the 2010 US congressional elections. The results show that the messages directly influenced political self-expression, information seeking and real-world voting behaviour of millions of people. Furthermore, the messages not only influenced the users who received them but also the users’ friends, and friends of friends. The effect of social transmission on real-world voting was greater than the direct effect of the messages themselves, and nearly all the transmission occurred between ‘close friends’ who were more likely to have a face-to-face relationship. These results suggest that strong ties are instrumental for spreading both online and real-world behaviour in human social networks.
During a recent visit to IDEO‘s San Francisco office, I learned how design thinking can be harnessed in B2B contexts and the transformative potential of generative AI. IDEO’s approach highlighted how design thinking is not limited to extreme end-users but extends meaningfully to B2B industries. By embracing this methodology, companies can reduce development timelines while serving the needs of various stakeholders.
IDEO’s collaboration with Ford highlights how design thinking can adapt quickly to address B2B challenges. Ford identified a gap in van driver security due to the long product development cycles. In response, IDEO designed a van security solution within just 12 weeks, quick prototyping to expedite development. This solution ultimately led to the creation of the joint venture between Ford and ADT, which integrated sensors, cameras, and AI to detect window breakage or unauthorized access.
One particularly inspiring session was learning about the integration of generative AI into design thinking processes. Generative AI, such as ChatGPT, has opened new avenues for, so called, “synthetic research.” Generative AI enables the creation of hypothetical personas that bring fresh insight into understanding potential customer needs. Additionally, by using video prototypes developed through AI, designers can iterate on ideas faster and more creatively than traditional methods allow.
This visit enlightened me about the transformative potential of merging emerging technologies like generative AI with established design thinking frameworks. By continuously pushing the boundaries of design thinking, IDEO opens new possibilities for the B2B sector, fostering faster, tailored solutions to meet evolving needs.
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Reference
Brown, T. (2008). Design thinking. Harvard business review, 86(6), 84.
In the past, design has most often occurred fairly far downstream in the development process and has focused on making new products aesthetically attractive or enhancing brand perception through smart, evocative advertising. Today, as innovation’s terrain expands to encompass human-centered processes and services as well as products, companies are asking designers to create ideas rather than to simply dress them up.
Brown, the CEO and president of the innovation and design firm IDEO, is a leading proponent of design thinking—a method of meeting people’s needs and desires in a technologically feasible and strategically viable way. In this article he offers several intriguing examples of the discipline at work. One involves a collaboration between frontline employees from health care provider Kaiser Permanente and Brown’s firm to reengineer nursing-staff shift changes at four Kaiser hospitals. Close observation of actual shift changes, combined with brainstorming and rapid prototyping, produced new procedures and software that radically streamlined information exchange between shifts. The result was more time for nursing, better-informed patient care, and a happier nursing staff.
Another involves the Japanese bicycle components manufacturer Shimano, which worked with IDEO to learn why 90% of American adults don’t ride bikes. The interdisciplinary project team discovered that intimidating retail experiences, the complexity and cost of sophisticated bikes, and the danger of cycling on heavily trafficked roads had overshadowed people’s happy memories of childhood biking. So the team created a brand concept—“Coasting”—to describe a whole new category of biking and developed new in-store retailing strategies, a public relations campaign to identify safe places to cycle, and a reference design to inspire designers at the companies that went on to manufacture Coasting bikes.
In my talk, I shared insights from my project experience with Korean designers, where we explored how companies can use psychology to improve product design and boost sales. One project I discussed involved creating product bundles. I explained how even small changes can have a big impact on whether people decide to buy.
The students were curious and engaged, asking thoughtful questions. One asked, “What’s the difference between Samsung and Apple?” Others questioned about which marketing tools these companies uses now. We even touched on how Google Nest might face similar questions when trying to bundle products effectively.
Overall, it was inspiring to see the students’ enthusiasm. Many left with new ideas on how to think about consumers in their own projects. I am excited to see where these future entrepreneurs take these insights.
I recently visited In-N-Out in Long Beach and found myself immersed in a nostalgic atmosphere. From the iconic red and white decor to the lively staff, the ambiance felt like a step back in time. One detail particularly stood out was that an employee stepped outside to greet drivers at the drive-through, hanging something reminiscent of old-fashioned McDonald’s. This personal, nostalgic touch resonated with many customers, making it more than just a fast-food stop.
Nostalgia can enhance consumer satisfaction, often outweighing price or product quality. When brands like In-N-Out press rewind to create enchantment, they create not just meals but memories. In an era of fast-paced change, such genuine, authentic gestures can be more impactful than any menu update.
Most marketing and branding activities are essentially concerned with enchantment—the rendering of the ordinary into something special. To create enchantment, companies are increasingly marketing past-themed brands and products. Yet, there is little research about why and how such nostalgia marketing creates enchantment for consumers. Building on different modalities of nostalgia identified in sociological literature (reluctant nostalgia, progressive nostalgia, and playful nostalgia), we analyze the creation of enchantment through a longitudinal, qualitative, multi-method program of inquiry. We find three routes to enchantment grounded in different nostalgia modes: (1) re-instantiation (symbolic retrojection into a past), (2) re-enactment (reflexively informing the present with past-themed brands and practices), and (3) re-appropriation (ludic re-interpretation of the past). By unfolding the different ways in which marketers can press rewind to create enchantment, we discern important implications for theorizing and managing past-themed brands in terms of marketing strategy, targeting and positioning, brand experience design, and marketing communications.
When I recently visited a CVS store in Long Beach, I stood in front of an impressive display of postcards. There were options for every occasion—anniversaries, Halloween, and even postcards designed to send money via Venmo. After choosing a card, I instinctively searched for postal stamps. To my surprise, the store did not sell them. This simple task of sending a postcard turned into a complex process. I had to go to Ralphs store, buy a book of 20 forever stamps for $14.60, and inquire how many were required for international shipping. This endeavor took over two hours. Even finding a post box was a challenge.
This experience echoes findings from Hwang et al. (2022) on goal-based bundling, where understanding consumer goals helps companies like Samsung develop product bundles that address customer needs holistically. If CVS applied a similar approach and emphasized with their shoppers deeply, bundling postcards with stamps could enhance consumer experience. Since the goal of buying a postcard is inherently linked to mailing it, offering both products together would eliminate unnecessary friction, saving time and improving convenience.
Building on this idea, not only retailers like CVS but also postcard makers like Hallmark could improve the postcard experience by launching postcards with pre-attached postal stamps. This would make it easier for customers, especially those who want send mail simply. By making mailing as easy as buying, manufacturers would help meet customer needs directly. This approach could also attract more people to send postcards, creating a new market focused on convenience and simplicity.
Contemporary electronic manufacturers struggle with how to develop attractive bundles by combining their existing smart products. In the present work, we propose Goal Based Bundling (GBB) by drawing on the academic research of goal systems theory (Kruglanski et al., 2018) and shed light on two previously ignored aspects of bundling strategy: service and glue product. We applied our GBB to a collaborative project with Samsung Electronics, whose goal was to develop new product bundles for kids by combining multiple smart home products. We constructed a framework of Samsung Electronics’ smart products and then visualized it on its sales website. A UI design conveying the value of smart products bundle was developed based on GBB structure. We discuss the process and the result of our project to provide insights into the product managers who combine existing smart products to develop a bundle.
Crosswalk signals in Mountain View, California, have undergone an important upgrade. The old system required pedestrians and cyclists to press a button to activate the walk signal. For cyclists, this often meant stopping and dismounting, creating an inconvenience.
In contrast, the new system is a touchless design that allows pedestrians and cyclists to wave their hand to activate the signal. This improvement makes it more convenient for everyone, especially cyclists who no longer need to stop and manually press a button.
This shift may also reflect changing attitudes towards physical touch in public spaces after the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumer researchers highilghted the importance of the “need for touch,” but this need may have diminished as people increasingly avoid touching shared surfaces. The new touchless crosswalk system may be an adaptation to this evolving preference, signaling a broader trend toward touchless design in public spaces.
This research details the development of the “Need for Touch” (NFT) scale designed to measure individual differences in preference for haptic (touch) information. The 12-item NFT scale consists of autotelic and instrumental dimensions. Results are reported that support the scale’s hypothesized internal structure as well as its reliability, convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity. Individual differences in chronic accessibility to haptic information across groups varying in NFT were also found in two experiments. Additionally, NFT moderated the relationship between direct experience and confidence in judgment.
A recent drive on an express lane showed tolls as high as $9 to Broadway and $10 to I-380, depending on real-time conditions. What makes this interesting is that the price for using the same road is not predetermined; it is decided on the spot.
Dynamic toll pricing may adjust based on traffic volume, creating an anchor for drivers to evaluate the value of the express lane. If traffic is heavy, the higher toll can feel worth it when compared to the frustration of sitting in congestion. This shifting price serves as a real-time incentive or deterrent, depending on how drivers value their time at that moment.
Mental accounting, the tendency to categorize resources such as money and time, is a key principle at work. The price is not just about the toll but about the potential loss of time stuck in traffic. For many, the higher toll feels like a small price to pay to avoid the larger loss of wasted time, especially during busy hours.
Dynamic pricing taps into our varying perceptions of time. During a stressful commute, paying $10 to save several minutes is more appealing than when traffic is light. The system uses behavioral cues to nudge drivers into seeing the express lane as a valuable, time-saving option.
In essence, dynamic toll pricing leverages human psychology to adjust behavior in real time, making the express lane more than just a road—it is a reflection of what happens when we convert time into money.
The sunk-cost effect, an irrational attention to non-recoverable past costs while making current decisions, has been documented widely in the domain of monetary costs. In this paper, I study the effect of past time investments on current decisions. In three experiments using choice situations, I demonstrate that the sunk-cost effect is not observed for past investments of time, but the effect reappears when the investments are expressed as monetary quantities. I further propose that this ‘pseudo-rationality’ is due to the fact that individuals lack the ability to account for time in the same way as they account for money. In two additional experiments, I facilitate the accounting of time and show that the irrational sunk-cost effect reappears. In a final experiment, I test my propositions in a setting where subjects make real investments of time and subsequently make real choices.
Recently, while applying for my driver license in California, I encountered a section about organ donation. The DMV’s (Department of Motor Vehicles) approach is an example of default.
First, they primed me with two statements:
“One person can save up to 8 lives, and heal over 75, through organ and tissue donation for transplantation. You can register regardless of age or health.”
“Organ donation happens after death, and your decision will not impact medical treatment.”
The first statement emphasizes the positive impact, while the second addresses potential concerns. This balanced approach put me at ease and highlighted benefits.
Then comes the question: “Would you like to register?” with two options: “Yes” or “Not at this time.” This is where default comes into play. By framing the question this way, they make saying “yes” feel like the natural choice.
Interestingly, even if I chose “Not at this time,” I was informed that I am still in the registry but without the pink dot on my license that indicates donor status. This opt-out process requires additional steps, making it more likely for people to remain registered.
This example resonates the findings of Johnson & Goldstein’s 2003 study on how defaults influence decision-making. By designing the process this way, the California DMV is likely increasing organ donation rates without forcing anyone’s hand.
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Reference
Johnson, E. J., & Goldstein, D. (2003). Do defaults save lives? Science, 302(5649), 1338–1339.
“If preferences concerning organ donation are strong, we would expect defaults to have little or no effect. However, as can be seen in the figure, defaults appear to make a large difference: the four opt-in countries (gold) had the lower rates than the six opt-out countries (blue)… One reason these results appear to be greater than those in our laboratory study is that the cost of changing from the default is higher; it involves filling out forms, making phone calls, and sending mail.” (pg. 1339)
