In Risk Aversion, we explained how human biology works against us when facing tough decisions. We are hard-wired to eliminate uncertainty meaning that we tend avoid tough decisions or choose the traditional path because following this path feels safe. Taking even a small risk scares us. The consequences of succumbing to our biology are an […]
Tag Archives | decisions
Two Steps to Better Design Decisions
By Eric Olive on July 9, 2015 in Availability Bias, Bias, Confirmation Bias, Decisions, Design, Design Decisions
While the human brain is our greatest design resource, it also erects barriers in the form of cognitive bias, or brain quirks. Sadly, such brain quirks are legion and include the optimism, overconfidence, availability, and confirmation biases. The confirmation bias presents an especially difficult challenge because it causes us to seek evidence that supports our […]
When Bias Trumps Design
What do you see below? Anything missing? Photo by gmanviz License There are no brown M&Ms® in the jar. Don’t worry if you missed it; most people do. Unless you’re an M&Ms® fanatic, you probably don’t care about the color of this American candy icon. Indeed, the colors themselves don’t matter. What’s important is that […]
Technology Trap: Why Your Software Causes Customer Complaints
By Eric Olive on June 11, 2015 in Bad Decsions, Business Blunders, Technology, User Experience, users
“I can’t find it!” “Where am I?” “I can’t get back to where I was!” “I think I’m there, but I can’t see it.” There probably isn’t a single Web or smartphone user who has not uttered a similar complaint. In Material Design: Why the Floating Action Button is bad UX design author and designer […]
How to Establish a More Transparent Decision-Making Process
Decision Making: A Flawed Approach “Our say is so far removed from our do!” lamented an executive earlier this spring. In other words, executives were making decisions that violated the company’s values. Equally problematic was the decision-making process itself. In a culture where consensus supposedly reigned supreme, company leaders followed a nearly authoritarian decision-making model. […]
Intuitive Decision Process
In Intuitive Decision Making we referred to Gary Klein’s definition of intuition: “The way we translate our experience into action. Our experience lets us recognize what is going on (making judgments) and how to react (making decisions).” The next step is to think carefully about when intuitive decision making works well, and when it poses […]
Intuitive Decision Making
Gut check,” “I just knew…,” “A woman’s intuition,” It’s no accident that these expressions are part of the daily vernacular. In life and in business, many of us believe firmly in the power of our intuition. Myth? Fact? Somewhere in between? Can we rely on intuition when making important business decisions? One reason the answer […]
Dicey Decisions—Why Good People Make Bad Choices
The Bitter Scent of a Floral Fiasco Cards and flowers, a match made in heaven, right? Hallmark executives certainly thought so when they lighted upon the idea of selling flowers in their card shops. What could be better? Hallmark already had a distribution channel with stores throughout the U.S. Customers loved Hallmark cards, and who […]
Cognitive Biases—The Confirmation Bias
The confirmation bias refers to the tendency to favor information that reinforces our existing beliefs. As Andrew McVagh cleverly puts it in his post about the confirmation bias, “Did you know your brain is a yes-man, telling you only what you want to hear? He’s right, and we witness this bias in the current, highly […]
Anchored in Bias: How One Number Can Sink Your Career
Imagine how you might answer the following questions: Is the height of the tallest redwood more than 180 feet? What is your best guess about the height of the tallest redwood? Participants who were asked these questions in a study by psychologist Richard West answered, on average, 118 feet. West ran this experiment several times […]