Stephen is a behavioral social scientist who serves as the Principal Scientist at HelloWallet, an independent financial guidance company. He conducts original research on financial behavior and coordinates the research efforts of HelloWallet’s advisory board of leading behavioral economists and psychologists.
He is the author of Designing for Behavior Change for O'Reilly, which gives step by by instructions for designers and product managers on how to develop products that help users change their daily behavior - from exercising more to learning a new language.
At HelloWallet, he’s helped build an engaging product that helps users take control over their finances. The impetus for this book comes from the challenges he and the rest of the HelloWallet team faced along the way, as they learned to apply the behavioral literature to consumer products and consulted with companies similarly searching for effective ways to enable behavior change.
Prior to joining HelloWallet, Dr. Wendel co-founded two IT companies, and conducted research on the dynamics of political behavior. He’s the co-founder of Action Design DC, a Meetup of over 800 practitioners and researchers applying behavioral science to their products, and serves as a mentor at 500 Startups and 1776 DC. He and his wife live in the DC area, with a small kid who loves to sing.
Webcast: Behavioral Economics For Product Design 101 January 29, 2014
Have you heard about behavioral economics but aren't sure how it applies to you? Behavioral econ can help you understand your users and how to make your product more effective. In this Webcast, we'll start with the basics and move to practical techniques...
Webcast: The Business of Behavior Change September 26, 2013
In this interactive webcast presented by Stephen Wendel author of Designing for Behavior Change, he will talk about the business of behavior change: what it means for companies to design products that help users change their daily behavior and routines...