What is Boosts and nudges?
Boosts and nudges are two complementary approaches to improving decisions. Nudges alter the choice environment to steer behavior while preserving freedom of choice. Boosts enhance people’s own competence to navigate decisions. Both draw from behavioral science but differ in mechanism and philosophy.
How it works
Nudges work by leveraging cognitive shortcuts: defaults, social proof, salience. They are effective even when people are not paying attention. Boosts work by building cognitive skills or providing better representations of information, requiring active engagement. The choice between them depends on context: nudges suit one-time decisions or low-engagement settings, while boosts suit recurring decisions where lasting skill-building is valuable. Some interventions combine both.
Applied example
A cafeteria can nudge healthier eating by placing fruit at eye level (changing the environment) or boost healthier eating by posting a simple decision rule: ‘Fill half your plate with vegetables first’ (building a reusable heuristic). The nudge works without thought; the boost transfers to any eating situation.
Why it matters
Understanding the distinction helps designers choose the right intervention type: nudges for immediate behavioral change, boosts for lasting competence, and often both in combination.
