Cognitive Biases and the User Experience

Cognitive Biases and
the User Experience
Andrew Malek, Sr. UI Dev. / Design
@malekontheweb

@malekontheweb
Cognitive Bias: “a type of error in thinking
that occurs when people are processing
and interpreting information in the world
around them. The human brain is powerful
but subject to limitations. Cognitive biases
are often a result of your brain's attempt to
simplify information processing.”
verywell Mind (About, Inc.) - https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-cognitive-bias-2794963

@malekontheweb
Numerous Cognitive Biases
https://www.designhacks.co/products/cognitive-bias-codex-poster

@malekontheweb
Why? (3)
• To simplify the complicated world around us,
our brains can:
• Focus on the first or last pieces of information we
hear or read instead of the entire series
• Rationalize our decisions – including shutting out
conflicting information - to make us feel better, and
thus more willing to make decisions in the future
• See patterns where they do not exist - to attempt to
make sense of random data

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Bias Blind Spot

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Dunning -- Kruger
Effect

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Clustering illusion,
Recency Bias

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Illusion of Control
Optimism Bias
False Consensus Effect
Rhyme as Reason Effect

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False Consensus
Effect

@malekontheweb
False Consensus Effect: “the
tendency to overestimate the
degree to which other people will
agree with you, think like you,
and behave like you.”
UserTesting Blog. https://www.usertesting.com/blog/false-consensus-effect/

@malekontheweb
False Consensus Effect: Real Life Examples
• Hearing about a crazy celebrity story on the
news, TMZ, etc., and wondering how they could
have acted a certain way. “If I was in their
shoes, …”
• Enjoying chocolate ice cream and assuming it
must be everyone’s favorite
• …yet in the US, the favorite is vanilla
• International Dairy Foods Association
• https://www.idfa.org/news-views/media-kits/ice-
cream/what%27s-hot-in-ice-cream

@malekontheweb
False Consensus Effect and UX
• “You are not the user”
• “[I]t’s become one of the mantras of user
experience, and rightly so. All our work as UX
professionals stems from the assumption that we
are different from our users.”
• Raluca Budiu, Direct of Research – Nielsen Norman
Group
• https://www.nngroup.com/articles/false-consensus/

@malekontheweb
UX Design Is Not About You:

@malekontheweb
False Consensus Effect and UX - Testing
• Almost anything you assume about the end
user must be tested, i.e.:
• What are their demographics?
• What are their hopes? Fears?
• What are their disabilities?
• What are their opinions of related or
competing products / services?

@malekontheweb
False Consensus Effect – Try to Avoid
• Talk with potential users
• “This is not the time to talk about your product. Your
job is to ask questions, listen attentively, and write
down what they have to say. Find out what they do
for a living, how they spend their day, where and when
the experience the problem you’re solving, how they
currently deal with the problem when it comes up and
what other similar products they use.”
• Aasif Khan, writing for UX Blog
• https://bit.ly/2KtB2JW

@malekontheweb
False Consensus Effect – Try to Avoid (2)
• Performing UX Testing and research with users:
• Identify your assumptions
• Identify what you think should be the answers to
questions and write questions to challenge them
• Ensure testing participants from variety of
backgrounds
• Hunter Jensen, CEO Barefoot Solutions
• “Don’t Let Your Brain Deceive You: Avoiding Bias In
Your UX Feedback”
• https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2017/10/avoid-
bias-ux-feedback/

@malekontheweb
Curse of Knowledge

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Curse of Knowledge: “occurs
when an individual,
communicating with other
individuals, unknowingly
assumes that the others have the
background to understand.”
Wikipedia

@malekontheweb
Curse of Knowledge Examples
• Assuming users will know what an icon
represents
• Assuming users will automatically swipe for
more information
• Assuming users will understand complex
microcopy, all acronyms, etc. without
explanation

@malekontheweb
“Never use a long word
when a diminutive one
will do.” – William
Safire

@malekontheweb
Curse of Knowledge - Avoiding
• Test application with variety of users with different
backgrounds, educational experience, etc., and not
just coworkers.
• Don’t ask if people are confused – watch them.
People may not admit confusion, but this can be
detected in other ways (time taken to perform
action, constant undo operations, never performing
a particular action, etc.).
• If one person is confused, assume others may be,
too, and factor this into design.

@malekontheweb
Confirmation Bias

@malekontheweb
Confirmation Bias: “the tendency to
process information by looking for, or
interpreting, information that is consistent
with one’s existing beliefs. This biased
approach to decision making is largely
unintentional and often results in ignoring
inconsistent information.”
https://www.britannica.com/science/confirmation-bias

@malekontheweb
Confirmation Bias: Real Life Examples
• Following Facebook feeds aggregable to
personal belief & ideals, and then mostly
seeing posts agreeing to your views
• Reading only positive or negative reviews
on Yelp, Amazon, eBay, etc., ignoring
countering opinions to your own

@malekontheweb
Confirmation Bias and A/B Testing

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Confirmation Bias & User Feedback
“Net Promoter Score®, or NPS®, measures
customer experience and predicts business
growth. “
https://www.netpromoter.com/know/

@malekontheweb
Confirmation Bias & User Feedback (2)
• Assume you make a change to a design and
you think people will like it
• All 9 or 10 scores confirm your decision! Ship it!
• HOWEVER… did people even notice your
change? Maybe they like the rest of the design,
but not your change? Or, what if another
change would result in an even better user
experience? You’d never know…

@malekontheweb
Illusory correlation: “the
phenomenon of perceiving a
relationship between variables
(typically people, events, or
behaviors) even when no such
relationship exists.”
Wikipedia

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IKEA Effect
LEGO Effect

@malekontheweb
IKEA Effect: “…when people
imbue products with their own
labor, their effort can increase
their valuation.”
Journal of Consumer Psychology Vol 22 Issue 3: “The IKEA effect: When labor leads to love” -
http://www.people.hbs.edu/mnorton/norton%20mochon%20ariely.pdf

@malekontheweb
IKEA Effect: Real Life Examples
• Stores: Build-a-Bear Workshop
• Toys: LEGO, Mindstorms
• Restaurants: Subway, Chipotle, Blaze Pizza
• Social Networking: Facebook, Twitter, …
• Nightclubs…wait… nightclubs?

@malekontheweb
IKEA Effect and Nightclubs???

@malekontheweb
IKEA Effect and UX
“Simple actions requiring low effort and making the
user feel like having high contribution will lower the
fear of dealing with a new product. If done properly
and continuously for a period of time it even can lead
to forming loyalty to the brand and product.”
• Design principle: IKEA effect
• Anton Nikolov
• https://uxdesign.cc/design-principle-ikea-effect-
2d908b2de81?gi=3e925b8c1592

@malekontheweb
IKEA Effect and UX – Potential Issue
• The longer we spend, and more work we put into, a design, the
harder it is for us to find issues.
• “When we emotionally invest ourselves into our work (which is
normal, don’t sweat it), we run the risk of being unable to see
flaws.”
• Workarounds:
• Putting a design aside and returning days later
• Requesting honest constructive criticism from others
• “How cognitive bias can affect UX designers”
• https://www.justinmind.com/blog/how-cognitive-bias-can-
affect-ux-designers/

@malekontheweb
Framing Bias
(Framing Effect)

@malekontheweb
Framing Bias: “people decide on
options based on if the options
are presented with positive or
negative semantics; e.g. as a loss
or as a gain.”
Wikipedia, Plous, Scott (1993) - The psychology of judgment and decision making

@malekontheweb
Framing Bias: Real Life Examples
• “Do you think we can risk electing
INSERT_POLITICIAN due to their opinion on
INSERT_ISSUE?”
• Products are labeled “99% fat free”, not
“Contains 1% fat”.
• Shah Mohammed
• “Framing Bias, Examples and Decision-Making in
Business”
• https://bit.ly/2OTJ8Kp

@malekontheweb
Confirmation and Framing Biases
Search box is not being accessed, so
you think it needs a redesign…

@malekontheweb
Confirmation and Framing Biases (2)
Test with a group of users and ask afterwards:
• “How did the new search box make it easier for
you to search?”
LEADING / FRAMING QUESTION!
• “Did the new search box make it easier” OR
• “Which search box was easier to use” OR
• … just watch the users and see which ones use
the search box.

@malekontheweb
Confirmation and Framing Biases (3)
• “Don’t Let Your Brain Deceive You: Avoiding
Bias In Your UX Feedback”
• Hunter Jenson
• https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2017/10/avoi
d-bias-ux-feedback/
• Design a Perfect Search Box
• Nick Babich
• https://uxplanet.org/design-a-perfect-search-box-
b6baaf9599c?gi=9f6d579d34b3

@malekontheweb
Framing Bias & Microcopy
• YOUR COST: $100
• YOUR COST: $200, before a 50% discount
• Testing may show the latter to result in more
purchases, as it is framed as a gain (the
discount)
• “Keep it simple, silly. Design and the framing effect.”
• https://web.colby.edu/cogblog/2018/04/26/user-
experience-design-and-the-framing-effect/

@malekontheweb
Framing Bias and Reporting
• Reporting results of 30 user search box study
• 4 participants never tried the search box
• 26 participants tried the search box
• How results are reported could result what
decisions UX management design to take
• “Decision Frames: How Cognitive Biases Affect UX
Practitioners”
• https://www.nngroup.com/articles/decision-
framing-cognitive-bias-ux-pros/

@malekontheweb
Halo Effect: “a cognitive bias
where one trait of
someone/something influences
how you feel about other,
unrelated traits.”
Alex Birkett, https://conversionxl.com/blog/halo-effect/

@malekontheweb
Halo Effect: Real Life Example
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Messy_shoe_aisle_at_Nashville_Target_store.jpg

@malekontheweb
Halo Effect: Real Life Example (2)

@malekontheweb
Halo Effect, Emotion, and Design
“Positive affect makes people more tolerant of
minor difficulties and more flexible and creative
in finding solutions. Products designed for more
relaxed, pleasant occasions can enhance their
usability through pleasant, aesthetic design.
Aesthetics matter: attractive things work better.”
• Don Norman
• https://jnd.org/emotion_design_attractive_thing
s_work_better/

@malekontheweb
Halo Effect & UX Testing - Brands
• Established brands add difficulty for tests
• People may volunteer for a test may have a high
opinion of a brand, providing positive responses
everywhere
• … or the opposite can be true!
• “Why people participate in UX research (and why the
reasons matter)”
• Amanda Stockwell
• https://uxmastery.com/why-people-participate-in-ux-
research/

@malekontheweb
Halo Effect & UX Testing - Brands (2)
• Possible to test pages without brand
identification?
• Recruit people without mentioning name of
brand
• Tell people that feedback is important, and
ensure them all feedback and observations
will be considered

@malekontheweb
Halo Effect and Design
• First impressions matter – a difficult-to-use or non-
delightful first page can steer users away
• Through research, know what actions users are likely to
perform first… and focus on improving the experience
• Focus on sign-in procedure – too many questions can
drive people away and never come back. Guest checkout
for e-commerce sites may help
• Performance matters! Slow responses drive people away
• Design consistency – style guides (& enforcement)

@malekontheweb
Halo Effect in Action
https://www.lingscars.com/

@malekontheweb
Bike Sheds and Bias?

@malekontheweb
Parkinson's Law of
Triviality (Bike Shed
Effect)

@malekontheweb
Parkinson’s Law of Triviality: …”
represents the tendency to give
disproportionate weight to trivial
issues and avoid specialized or
complex subjects.”
Moses Kim – “On Mental Biases, Blocks …” - https://bit.ly/2WLnNpg

@malekontheweb
“Parkinson provides the example of a fictional
committee whose job was to approve the plans
for a nuclear power plant spending the
majority of its time on discussions about
relatively minor but easy-to-grasp issues, such
as what materials to use for the staff bike
shed, while neglecting the proposed design of
the plant itself, which is far more important and
a far more difficult and complex task.“
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_triviality

@malekontheweb
Law of Triviality: Real Life Examples
• Building a house and focusing on the window
treatment at the cost of everything else
• Development – spending hours optimizing a
rarely-used function instead of the application
as a whole
• Spending an hour tweaking animations on a
PowerPoint slide and not working on the rest of
the presentation ☺

@malekontheweb
Law of Triviality: When it Happens
• Set agenda of larger topics to discuss
before a meeting or design review
• Ensure decision maker is present
• Show some patience…
• Timebox discussions
• Jokingly mention that bikeshedding is
occurring

@malekontheweb
Law of Triviality: When it Happens (2)
• “A designer’s guide to Parkinson’s Law of
Triviality”
• Daniel Burka
• https://library.gv.com/a-designers-guide-to-
parkinson-s-law-of-triviality-86484cb79526
• “Some design stakeholders are more important
than others”
• Piers Scott
• https://uxdesign.cc/some-design-stakeholders-are-
more-important-than-others-a8102d277bd8

@malekontheweb
Action Bias:
“1. The tendency to think that value
can only be realized through action
2. The tendency to act as opposed
to practice restraint — when both
are reasonable options.”
Mike Sturm, “The Mother of All Biases: The Action Bias and the Power of Restraint”
https://bit.ly/2ImBZ1r

@malekontheweb
Action Bias: Real Life Example

@malekontheweb
Action Bias: Real Life Example (2)
Alex Berezow - American Council of Science & Health: https://bit.ly/2UFzwZa

@malekontheweb
Action Bias and UX
• Could encourage stakeholders to
recommend a design change just to prove
their worth
• Could encourage a designer to change an
existing design – without proper testing – to
prove their worth

@malekontheweb
Action Bias and UX – The Good?
• During design thinking sessions, or
whenever brainstorming is encouraged:
• Thinking too much may not be recommend
• Need ideas quickly… lots of ideas
• Can later determine which ideas to research
and which to ignore

@malekontheweb
Action Bias & Law of Triviality
Jeff Atwood – Coding Horror: https://blog.codinghorror.com/new-programming-jargon/

@malekontheweb
Action Bias & Law of Triviality (2)
Jeff Atwood – Coding Horror: https://blog.codinghorror.com/new-programming-jargon/

@malekontheweb
“[T]hat looks great.
Just one thing - get rid
of the duck."

@malekontheweb
Bandwagon Effect

@malekontheweb
Bandwagon Effect: “a
psychological phenomenon in
which people do something
primarily because other people are
doing it, regardless of their own
beliefs, which they may ignore or
override.”
Investopedia - https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bandwagon-effect.asp

@malekontheweb
Bandwagon Effect: Real Life Examples
• Multiple stocks dropping or rising may cause
people to buy / sell without performing
research
• Popular celebrities may promote a product /
service, causing fans to purchase it without
doing their own research
• Ignoring answers on Stack Overflow / Stack
Exchange with few up votes, blindly
copying/pasting from highest-rated answers

@malekontheweb
Bandwagon Effect and UX Example
Testimonial Sections (example from Tesla)

@malekontheweb
Bandwagon Effect and UX Example (2)
Product reviews (example from Amazon)

@malekontheweb
Bandwagon Effect and UX – Presenting Designs
• One person’s excitement about a potential
feature or design may cause others to get
excited without doing their own due
diligence
• “Why You Need More UX Research”
• Angelica Valentine, Content Editor Proto.io
• https://blog.proto.io/why-you-need-more-ux-
research/

@malekontheweb
Bandwagon Effect and UX – UX Research
• One person’s opinion in a group can cause
everyone else to instinctively agree
• Telling participants that a task is simple or
hard can actually make it seem easier /
harder
• Participants can overstate how important a
feature may be to everyone else

@malekontheweb
Bandwagon Effect and UX – UX Research (2)
• “Types of cognitive biases you need to be
aware of as a researcher”
• Teo Choong Ching
• https://bit.ly/2UyCXBp
• “Cognitive biases in user research — 2”
• Abdou Ghariani
• https://bit.ly/2D8X5iS

@malekontheweb
• For good or ill, cognitive biases are attempts to
process input
• Over 100 exist including those involving
decision-making, memory, and rationalizing
behavior
• Biases can affect:
• UX Design
• UX Research Process
• Usability Testing
• Evaluating and Presenting UX Research

@malekontheweb
• To help mitigate effects of biases:
• Challenge all assumptions
• Consider not using focus groups but testing
with one participant at a time
• Facilitate meetings effectively so they don't
regress into triviality
• Watch out for leading / framing questions
• Double-check that results have causes and are
not just correlations

@malekontheweb
• Unless literally designing for yourself or
others exactly like you:
• You are not the user
• The more you understand who users really
are, what are their goals, backgrounds, etc.,
the better you can design products and
services that will benefit others.

Cognitive Biases and the User Experience

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