Seen Things is a blog about applied Behavioral Data Science.

Behavioral Data Science is a new multi-disciplinary approach to model, understand and predict behavior. It combines techniques from the behavioral sciences (e.g. psychology, cognitive science and behavioral economics) with systems dynamics and computational data science (e.g. statistics, machine learning and Big Data analytics).

Behavioral Data Science connects the questions underlying human, algorithmic, and systems behavior with increasing quantities of data to provide insights into why people act the way they do.

I believe this is where the future of human behavioral understanding lies.

We have ever growing amounts of data. We also have growing numbers of data and computer scientists to build sophisticated machine learning models to make predictions. In the past decade, we have also seen a growing interest in applied behavioral science and a vibrant ecosystem of practitioners, teams, and academics now exists globally to help .

But understanding people—why they make decisions, form habits, or respond to incentives—requires more than just one of these approaches. Behavioral data science bridges this gap, combining the theories of human behavior with the computational power of big data to deliver deeper, more actionable insights.

Stepping back from the noise, I try to share insights, observations and things of general interest.