ECONOMICS ALUMNI NEWSLETTER

Konrad Grabiszewski and I are pioneering a what we
think is groundbreaking approach to experimental
research called mobile experiments. Our idea is
motivated by the fact that there are over 5 billion
mobile phone users worldwide and that smartphones
have become essential for many daily activities.
From this, we saw a potential for mobile devices to
serve as experimental labs. And so, we decided to
develop a new way for researchers to study human
behavior on an unprecedented global scale by
collecting data from users asked to play strategic
games in laboratory settings via their smartphones.
The widescale use of mobile devices offers several
advantages for experimental research. One important
advantage is that mobile experiments can potentially
reach billions of people, mitigating the problem of
small sample size. At the same time, it eliminates
the need for travel and face-to-face interactions.
Not only does this save on expense, but it promotes
sustainable research practices.
Our first mobile experiment, called Blues and Reds
(www.bluesandreds.com), has been downloaded in
over 140 countries, with players completing over
75,000 games.
The data from this experiment has been used in
four research projects focused on understanding
decision-making. In one project, we discovered
that people often fail to find the correct solution
to a problem not because they do not know how
to solve it, but because they don't understand the
problem itself.
This finding has practical implications. For
example, it suggests that policymakers should
focus on improving communication and education
to ensure the public fully understands the
problems being addressed by policies being
proposed by legislators. This suggests that more
effort should be devoted to simplifying complex
issues, using relatable examples, and employing
various communication channels to reach diverse
audiences. Businesses should also prioritize clear
communication within their organizations, so
employees understand the goals, objectives, and
challenges they face. As Einstein famously said,
“If I had an hour to solve a problem, I'd spend 55
minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes
thinking about solutions.” Our findings from Blues
and Reds supports this idea.
Currently, we are working on three more mobile
experiments. One is complete and is called
Strategize It! (www.strategizeit.org), another is
about to be launched and is called Escapismo
(www.escapismo.org), and the third one is a
financial trading laboratory that is in production.
Mobile experiments have the potential to
revolutionize research and our understanding of
human behavior in various fields, such as
psychology, economics, healthcare, and
education. As scientists, we're excited to embrace
and shape this new chapter of experimental
research by leveraging the widespread use of
smartphones and the power of mobile apps.