Weaponising Jevons Paradox
TL;DR
Jevons Paradox is all the rage right now, and you can weaponize it. Its suprisingly simple, identify behaviors you want to see more of (deployments, code reviews, feedback), make them easier and more joyful, and watch frequency increase.
The ROI isn't just time saved × current frequency; it's time saved × increased frequency. And thats just the first layer.
Why now?
In a previous post, I discussed how AI broke the automation payback calculation.
The cost of building automation dropped so dramatically that traditional ROI calculations no longer applied. Creating your own tooling and improvements was now extremely cheap.
But there's a second-order effect people should keep in mind: when you make something easier, people do it more. And sometimes, not a little more. A lot more.
This is Jevons Paradox in action.
What is Jevons Paradox
Jevons Paradox observes that when you improve the efficiency of a resource, total consumption of that resource increases rather than decreases. Originally identified with coal consumption in the 1800s, it's recently resurfaced in discussions about AI and software development.
You've probably heard the argument: AI won't reduce demand for developers, it'll increase it. Why? Because AI makes coding easier and faster, which enables more software to be built, which requires more developers. Efficiency improvements increase total consumption.
The same principle can apply to your teams, process and products.
The Weaponization: Easy = Increased Frequency
You can trigger this effect deliberately.
Identify behaviors you want to see more of. Make them easier. Make them joyful. People will do them more frequently. The benefit isn't just time saved per instance, it's the compounding effect of increased instances, and oftern can even have third order effects beyond that.
When evaluating process improvements, don't just calculate:
ROI = time_saved × current_frequencyConsider:
ROI = time_saved × (current_frequency + induced_frequency)That second term can be a big deal.
And then consider a world where that thing is done a lot more, what knock on effects might this have?
Examples: Internal Processes
Deployments
- Multi-day, painful, manual process → deploy quarterly
- 10-minute automated process with clear feedback → deploy daily
→ Daily deploys = Smaller deploys
→ Daily deploys = Faster value delivery to users
Bug Reporting
- Multi-field form requiring reproduction steps → only critical bugs reported
- One-click submission from error state → more bugs captured
→ more bugs captured = better targeting of effort
Feedback Loops
- Tickets disappear into void → people stop reporting issues
- Immediate acknowledgment + visibility into progress → continuous feedback
→ continuous feedback = customers feel you are listening/fixing faster
Examples: Product/Customer-Facing
Content Creation
- Complex upload process → minimal user-generated content
- Easy, joyful creation experience → thriving content ecosystem
→ thriving content ecosystem = positive feedback loop
User Feedback
- Hidden feedback form → product team flies blind
- Contextual, frictionless feedback → constant product intelligence
→ constant product intelligence = new opportunities, faster feedback loop
Whatever behavior you want from users/teams/organisation, engineer the experience to make it easy and rewarding.
The Neglected Internal Process Problem
Internal processes often receive the least investment. They're not customer-facing. They don't directly generate revenue. They get built once and tolerated indefinitely.
But they can have the highest ROI potential precisely because of the frequency multiplier effect and third order impacts of that behavior change.
A deployment process that goes from quarterly to daily doesn't just save time. It fundamentally changes how your team ships software. Bug velocity increases. Feedback loops tighten. Iteration speed compounds.
When you're considering process improvements, particularly internal ones, consider its 2nd and 3rd order affects, the likely frequency increase and what that might mean. That's not a nice-to-have benefit. It's often the primary benefit.
Remember This
This isn't new information. Is obvious that people prefer doing things that are easy and feel good. But it's worth reminding yourself, you can leverage this to nudge the behaviors you want to see more of.
But it's easy to forget when evaluating process improvements. You calculate time saved. You measure efficiency gains. You miss the behavioral change.
When you make something easier, people do it more. Design for that. Weaponize it.
Make the things you want to see happen more both easy and joyful. Then watch Jevons Paradox work in your favor.
