What it is
Revealed preference is what your behavior shows you want: what you click, how long you scroll. Endorsed preference is what you’d choose after reflecting. The two often split.
The main defense of engagement optimization treats revealed preference as what people “really” want. Scrolling at 1 a.m. reveals one preference. Wishing the next morning that you’d slept endorses another. A whole business can live in that gap.
How it shows up for me
I try to design my phone for the morning version of me, not the 1 a.m. version. That means fewer apps, more friction, and trusting the person who thought about it over the person who’s tired.