Richer than thou
Written by Simon Clatworthy
I re-found a treasure today whilst looking up the bakery that tweets as its produce comes hot out of the oven (link). Its the global rich list and a very nice (and so old its retro-trendy) website that does one thing incredibly well. It makes you step back and think about your own financial situation and puts things into perspective. All it does is rank you on the list of the worlds richest people. As a humble academic, I didn’t expect much, but was surprised to find that I am in the top 0.61% of the world. This gives an ambivalent feel good/feel bad experience at the same time, and luckily, there is an outlet for the feel bad, through the give to charity link.
What I like about it is its simplicity compared to the power of the message. It caters to our innate needs to position ourselves in relation to others and does so in a good way. I wish my bank statements reminded me of this each month, or even my tax statement. In a period of nudge (link), this is a perfect example of how to design a simple, yet effective, nudge experience.