Let’s talk about something you probably don’t hear about in design every day, because I’ve learned so much over the past few weeks, and it doesn’t get any more interesting than what I’m about to say. Behavioral economics is a major factor in design.

Compared to what I’ve dealt with for almost three years as a certified teaching assistant, behavioral economics in design is something I would rather discuss comfortably. Think about the role it plays: it helps designers understand how people actually make decisions. In life, people are generally influenced by emotions, habits, and how information is presented. Behavioral economics addresses these elements, so designers can better create products, services, and experiences that encourage more acceptable human behavior. 

According to an article by Bridgeable, five behavioral economics principles make a huge difference in human behavior: anchoring, default bias, friction costs, the ostrich effect, and social proof. As effective as these principles are, I believe the ostrich effect is the biggest difference-maker, especially when it comes to my favorite sports team, the New York Mets. 

The Evidence 

According to Bridgeable, the ostrich effect happens when someone avoids negative information about their poor actions. Honestly, I’ve seen myself in this situation before. 

When I was younger, I would sometimes avoid bad news about the Mets’ poor results. Although I’m older now and the bad news about them hardly affects my life, the ostrich effect still tries to change the narrative. Believe it or not, this has happened recently.

As seen above, the Major League Baseball app shows the Mets, among other teams, to viewers from them to see that they’re eliminated from postseason contention, hence the “E” shown in the image. This happened on Sept. 15 following a 2-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. For any Mets fan, myself included, it’s easy to disengage when seeing negative news like that, because just about every fan wants their team to win a championship. 

That said, the ostrich effect has a caveat: the negativity can provide a bright spot. 

As you can see in the above images, Mets young outfielder Carson Benge hit a home run during that game against the Orioles. That home run is the 18th of his rookie season with the Mets, on top of a .272 batting average and 59 RBIs in 140+ games. So, despite 2026 being a non-playoff season, I’m excited for the future, especially because of Benge. 

As much as the example about Benge says a lot about the ostrich effect, let’s sum it all up with this: Former Mets and current Orioles first baseman Pete Alonso hit his 300th career home run that same day, Sept. 15, at Citi Field, and it’s actually a bigger deal than some people may think.

That home run tied the game in the ninth inning, followed by Alonso giving a curtain call to the whole crowd. From a design perspective, it creates an opportunity to bring fans engaging, emotional content, even though the 2026 Mets season has been a disappointment. In fact, think about it like this: if Alonso wasn’t at Citi Field that night, how would that have impacted the fan attendance? 

Powerful Statement

Although there isn’t much to play for when you’re out of the playoffs, there typically tends to be newsworthy elements for a sports game, such as player milestones and emotions. All that happened in the Sept. 15 game between the Mets and Orioles clearly demonstrates the ostrich effect. 

I hope this game, including what I mentioned in this post, reminds everyone of design’s behavioral economics episodes.