Behave And Design

Everyone's talking about what AI agents can do. Almost nobody's talking about how they should behave once they're actually inside an organization, and Gartner predicts 40% of agentic AI projects will be canceled by 2027.
In this episode, I open Season 3 of Behave & Design by naming a gap I couldn't find anyone else covering: the space between agent capability and agent behavior. Most organizations rolling out AI agents have a capability roadmap and no behavioral one, no answer for how the agent should act, handle data, or earn trust from the people working alongside it.
This is the flagship thread for the season: not what agents can do, but how they land with the humans around them.

In Part 1, we explored how context dies at organizational handoffs. Now we ask: why does this keep happening?
This episode examines the root causes behind handoff failures: the design assumptions that create invisible barriers, the structural choices that determine what information survives, and why making integration work visible is critical to system coherence.
You'll walk away with diagnostic questions to identify handoff problems in your own organization and design principles for creating systems that preserve context across boundaries.
Part 2 of 2 | Season 2: Designing for Consistency in Complex Systems

Why do organizations struggle with consistency even when everyone knows what to do? The answer often lies in the handoffs—those critical moments where context disappears between systems, teams, and people.
In this episode, we explore the handoff problem across three scales: system-level design assumptions, organizational structure, and interpersonal transitions. You'll discover why information loss at boundaries isn't a communication failure—it's a design problem.
Perfect for service designers, UX researchers, and anyone working to create coherent experiences in complex organizations.
Part 1 of 2 | Season 2: Designing for Consistency in Complex Systems

Inconsistent behavior in organizations isn't a discipline problem—it's a design problem. When employees create workarounds, bypass official processes, or behave "non-compliantly," they're often responding rationally to systems that make the wrong path easier than the right one.
In this foundational episode of Season 2, Senior UX Researcher Daniel explores why consistency emerges from system design, not willpower. Drawing from real enterprise systems mapping work, he breaks down a case where business teams consistently bypassed internal IT experiences—not due to lack of training, but because the system structure made external vendors the only viable path to meet deadlines.
You'll discover:
The "Replace the People" test: A diagnostic framework to identify true system problems
Three critical questions to ask when analyzing inconsistent organizational behavior
Why layered governance can accidentally create shadow IT and security blind spots
How to shift accountability from frontline teams to the designers and leaders who create system conditions
Perfect for service designers, UX researchers, organizational designers, and anyone responsible for employee experience in complex systems.
Season 2, Episode 1: Foundation Arc

Why do some people consistently create, while others wait for motivation to strike? In this episode, we flip the script on willpower and uncover why action sparks motivation—not the other way around. Drawing from behavioral science, systems thinking, and real-world examples—from Olympic athletes to public transit and grocery store design—we explore how structure beats self-control every time.
You’ll learn:
Why “motivation waves” always crash—and how to stop relying on them.

How the Zeigarnik Effect makes starting the hardest step.

What Olympic routines, supermarket layouts, and tech apps teach us about consistency.

Practical ways to design your starting line so showing up becomes inevitable.

If billion-dollar companies use behavioral design to shape your habits, why not apply the same principles to your creative life? Stop waiting to feel ready—start building systems that carry you forward.
🔗 Research & books mentioned: BJ Fogg, Amy Cuddy, B.F. Skinner, Daniel Kahneman, Charles Duhigg, James Clear, Richard Thaler, Carol Dweck, Paco Underhill.
👉 Actionable challenge inside: Design the tiniest first step for a creative project you’ve been postponing.