This is Marta W. Falkowska's & Andrzej Nagalski's presentation from Service Experience Camp 2018 on how to fight mental shortcuts in Design

1. Fighting mental
shortcuts by other
mental shortcuts?
Marta W. Falkowska
Andrzej Nagalski
02.11.2018

2. A visitor reading an article on the New York Times website is more
likely to be:
A) Someone who holds a Ph.D., or
B) Someone who graduated from high school, but did not attend
college
sources: Nielsen Norman Group, 2017

3. we are all biased // bias blind spot

4. mental shortcuts

5. mental shortcuts >> biases in the design process

6. 7

7. ‚What the human being is being the best at
doing is interpreting all new information so that
their prior conclusions remain intact’
Warren Buffet

8. 9
bias 1.
the confirmation bias 1/3
graphic via: dilbert.com

9. 10
bias 1.
the confirmation bias 1/3
sources: Wason, Peter C. (1960), "On the failure to eliminate hypotheses in a conceptual task", Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
2, 4, 6, …
What’s the pattern?
Wason 1960
12, 24, 48?
8, 10, 12?
10, 18, 34?
9, 8, 7?

10. 11
bias 1.
the confirmation bias 2/3
WHY THAT MIGHT CONCERN YOU?
• you might actively seek out and assign more
weight to evidence that confirms your
hypothesis, and ignore or underweight
evidence that could disconfirm your
hypothesis (risk of missing out important
information)
• team communication barrier - each side
interpreting the same piece of evidence in its
favor
AND YOUR HYPHOSESIS TESTING?
• skew questions based on what you want to
hear (leading questions)
• stopping a test early (A/B testing sin #1) as
soon as they get the result they wanted
• if there are multiple KPIs - cherry picking the
one that is in line with your thinking
• biased perception during qualitative tests

11. 12
bias 1.
the confirmation bias 3/3
photo via: JamesClear.com
WHEN YOU’RE MOST VURNELABLE?
• when the information is complicated or
unclear and requires a great deal of mental
energy
• too much information and limited time
• when proving to be wrong really sucks in the
organizational culture (yours or client’s)

12. ‚What the human beiing is being the best at
doing is interpretating all new information so that
their prior cncusions remain intact’
Warren Buffet
graphic via: CogBlog

13. 14
bias 2.
the bandwagon effect 1/3
source: Asch, S.E. (1951). Effects of group pressure on the modification and distortion of judgments
Asch’s original conformity
experiment, 1951:
37% wrong asnwers

14. 15
bias 2.
the bandwagon effect 1/3
photo: National Geographic & Amazon

15. 16
bias 2.
the bandwagon effect 2/3
WHY THAT MIGHT CONCERN YOU?
• overconfidence in group decisions: ’Everyone
supports it, so it must be right, right?’ (it may be
the right decision, but it often isn't because real
expression has not taken place)
• overuse of ’social proof’ especially toward people
perceived as experts or successful peers
• blind commitment to status quo solutions even if
the objective indicators imply they’re not so
good: ’We do it like this at XYZ company
because my boss did it like this before me, and
his boss before him’
AND YOUR HYPHOTHESIS TESTING?
• in focus groups, people end up being
influenced by others in the room and they
often cannot describe their real behaviour or
preferences

16. WHEN YOU’RE MOST VULNERABLE?
• when you’re alone among many
(3 is enough though)
• when faced with an unfamiliar situation you
feel a stronger need to refer to other people
for guidance
• similarity: you are more likely to adopt the
behavior and attitudes of the ones you
perceive similar to you (age, gender,
community, physical appearance, common or
similar experiences...)
• when you perceive surrounding people as
more knowledgeable or are even just slightly
more familiar with the situation
17
bias 2.
the bandwagon effect 3/3
photo via: socialbias.blogspot.com

17. graphic via: uxdesign.cc

18. 19
bias 3.
the Ikea effect and the effort justification 1/2
photo via: Bits and Pieces
Harvard Business School, 2011:
‚Builders’ liked the Ikea boxes
more and bid more money for
them.
sources: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/11-091.pdf

19. 20
bias 3.
the Ikea effect and the effort justification 2/2
WHY THAT MIGHT CONCERN YOU?
• getting in love with the ideas we create,
nourish, and bring to life (just because of it)
• getting overly emotionally invested in
projects you have been part of from the
beginning or where you came up with the
project idea
• it can insulate you from valuable feedback
from a teammate that might improve – even
save – the project
• a doorway to sunk cost fallacy
WHEN YOU’RE MOST VULNERABLE?
• when the time pressure requires to get
things done from us, we tend to
complete things we’ve invested our time
and energy in

20. fighting bias with a bias?

21. solutions from literature

22. photo via: Udemy
Be aware of
the biases
and when
you are the
most
vurnelable to
them

23. photo via: Corridorgazette
Allow for
uncertainty!
Never
assume!

24. photo via: Teepublic
Slow down
and reflect

25. Ask yourself
why you
believe what
you believe
and then ask
again if it’s
rational.
If the answer
is NO, revise
your thinking.
photo via: raisedbymydaughter.blogspot.com

26. A good
coach or an
experienced
facilitator will
help your
group tackle
your biases
photo via: VectorStock

27. 29
How to cope with confirmation bias?
• Consider the opposite or the alternative. Be a
devil’s advocate and look for the
observations that would prove you wrong.
Imagine your project going wrong and ask
yourself why?
Force yourself to look for the observations
that would prove you wrong.
• While testing, establish clear metrics upfront
so there’s no post-hoc justification and cherry
picking.
• And always have a neutral party review the
survey questions.
• Remain attentive to examining all evidence
with equal rigor .

28. 30
How to cope with bandwagon effect and groupthinking?
• Anonymize ideas
• Use silent brainstorming
• Stay focused on your customers,
rather than on your peers
• Base design decisions on what users do rather
than on what they say in focus groups
• While building a team think of the diversity of
thought and perspectives
• Spend more time in the question-asking
phase, and don’t be in a hurry to make a
decision
• Start with ’What problem are we trying to
solve?’ and keep testing given solutions until
there is a prove you solve the problem
with it
• Encourage to challenge the ideas. Allow
group members or employees the freedom to
air objections and doubts without fear of
reprisal
• Promote the culture of transparent
conversations in order to replace a ’corporate
nod’ with genuine conversations
• Promote the idea of the importance of failure
in your company’s culture. In order for people
to take risks and push the envelope, they need
to have a certain level of comfort with a
defeat
• Avoid making blind commitments to best
practices in your organisation by being open
and adaptable to change

29. 33
If you’re more interested

30. 34
Ideas from workshop
IKEA effect

31. 35
Ideas from workshop
Confirmation bias

32. 36
Ideas from workshop
Bandwagon effect

33. wearekba.com
or get in touch:
office@kwiecinski-ba.com
Andrzej Nagalski
Business Designer
andrzej.nagalski@kwiecinski-ba.com
Marta Wawrzyniak
Service Designer
marta.wawrzyniak-falkowska@kwiecinski-ba.com