Hi, I’m Evelyn.

I bring behavioral insights into the real world, helping product teams

About Irrational Labs

We’re a behavioral science consulting firm that works with the product and marketing teams of companies like Google, Fidelity, Lyft, Uber, Aetna, Cuna Mutual, and One Medical to drive growth and engagement.

Co-founded by renowned author and professor Dan Ariely and Kristen Berman, our methods and process help companies understand their customers’ needs and design products that solve them—for human betterment.

Aligning with our users’ ultimate goals is hard, but it’s the right thing to do. It’s time for us to design a system that works better for everyone.

Evelyn is nothing short of INCREDIBLE! I’m impressed at how engaging and interactive she is, and how much she weaves in our own products into the workshop.

Lauren Polkow
Senior Director of Product, Glassdoor

Pleased to meet you.

I help companies use the science of decision-making to better understand how real people think and behave, so that they can create better products and services.

Why do I do what I do? Because my curiosity has always driven me to want to understand human behavior. And that has taken me from product management, marketing, and sales to behavioral science.

I am a Managing Director at Irrational Labs, where I lead initiatives in tech, human connection, and digital well-being.

Learn More

Signature Topics

  • Product psychology
  • Psychology of AI
  • Experimental research
  • Behavioral design
  • Digital well-being
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See Me Speak

To design products that work, you have to understand how the people you are building them for think and behave.

Behavioral science gives us this tool set. I’ve seen it transform leading companies—and as a speaker who brings it to life, I transform my audience’s perspective on products and the world.

Some of the amazing companies I’m working with

Follow my thoughts, follow me

After years of studying gift-giving, we created GiftLab—a free, science-backed gift guide to help you find the perfect gift without the stress. Built by our team, including Erin Mahoney and Monica Zhang, it’s your new go-to for shopping.
Lyft’s Women+ Connect was a feature drivers wanted—but not enough opted in. Isabel Macdonald, PhD, and I teamed up to uncover the barriers, test strategies, and double opt-ins. Hear the full story and our insights on The Brainy Business podcast!
Excited for hashtag#ProductCon24 by Product School on Oct 16—ready to dive into fresh insights with fellow product innovators!
When Lyft’s Women+ Connect feature launched, many drivers didn’t opt in—despite demand. Irrational Labs helped boost engagement by testing subtle nudges, finding that a simple prompt drove a 173% increase in opt-ins. Small changes, big results!
What can popular consumer apps like Duolingo, Slack, Peloton Interactive, Strava, MyFitnessPal, and Headspace teach PMs about conversion, engagement, and retention?
#TrustCon24 is almost underway and sadly, I can't be part of it this year. I'm proud of the work Irrational Labs is doing in Trust & Safety with teams at companies like TikTok, Meta, and Airbnb on crucial topics like AI, misinformation prevention, hate speech, platform civility, and youth safety
"If a gym is closer, you go to the gym more. If friends are closer, you see them more.”
Imagine a living situation designed not just to shelter you, but to connect you with people you care about.
How can products help us solve the connection crisis? And how does this drive conversion, engagement, and other key metrics? I was thrilled to join Jane Portman on the UI Breakfast podcast recently to discuss this!
What can products learn from the psychology of human connection? I’m excited to be giving a talk on this topic at #WIP24!
Who says you can't mix deep work with deep connections? In a remote/hybrid world, doing retreats well can take a team from “great” to “amazing”.
What's the deal with conversation cards? Have you noticed them popping up at parties and wondered what they're all about?
How can you design your product to ignite ‘fresh start’ motivation all year long?
I got a WhatsApp message from WhatsApp that made me think: If you want to tell people about a thing, why not use the thing to do it?
How do you get more people federal aid for college? Try behavioral design.
There’s a simple, but underused way to sell people on your product in a lasting, meaningful way.
Want to build a more engaging and impactful mental model for your product? Quit trying to sell folks on a laundry list of features.
Think 'social connection' is only critical for apps like Threads and Tinder? Research shows that relationships play a vital role in keeping humans happy and healthy.
How do we get people invested in retirement planning?
What REALLY happens when we offer users a million choices?
Want to maximize the impact of financial rewards and incentives? You’ll need to account for mental accounting.
Reducing friction doesn’t have to be hard.
Compliments make us feel good—and when something feels good? We value it more.
There’s no way to know—YET—whether the latest iteration of Twitter’s “Community Notes” feature will help to combat the spread of misinformation.
Here’s an example of a great feature that I missed because it hit me at the wrong time.
It was a joy to chat with Mallory Erickson about the (behavioral) science of charitable giving on the latest episode of her “What the Fundraising” podcast.
How we frame choices matters.
In behavioral design, email experiments are low-hanging fruit. They’re easy to run and the returns are immediate.
Small frictions matter.
Want to lean into emotion as a tool for behavior change? Lean ALL the way in.