{"id":999,"date":"2022-02-08T15:41:34","date_gmt":"2022-02-08T15:41:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.simon-li.com\/design-and-code\/?p=999"},"modified":"2022-04-14T22:56:14","modified_gmt":"2022-04-14T22:56:14","slug":"5-examples-of-clever-use-of-cognitive-biases-in-product-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.simon-li.com\/design-and-code\/5-examples-of-clever-use-of-cognitive-biases-in-product-design\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Examples of Clever Use of Cognitive Biases in Product&nbsp;Design"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"5 Examples of Clever Use of Cognitive Biases in Product Design\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pkVPzR7FpCw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>How can we go beyond visuals when designing digital products?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So far in my blog, I&#8217;ve covered two ways to do that: One is to understand <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/www.simon-li.com\/design-and-code\/ux-nuggets-user-mental-model\/\" target=\"_blank\">the user mental model<\/a>. Another is to be more cognizant of <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/www.simon-li.com\/design-and-code\/win-the-number-game-strategies-for-data-driven-design\/\" target=\"_blank\">the relationship between design and metrics<\/a>. There\u2019s a third way, which is to leverage cognitive biases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.verywellmind.com\/what-is-a-cognitive-bias-2794963\" target=\"_blank\">verywellmind.com<\/a>, cognitive biases are systematic errors in our thinking. They are the attempts of our brains to simplify information processing. They serve as heuristics, or rules of thumb, that can help us make decisions faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re new to cognitive biases, here are five real-life examples I\u2019ve collected that beautifully illustrate how they can be used in product design. Definitions of the biases below are pulled from Wikipedia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"scarcity-effect\">Scarcity Effect<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Scarcity effect is the mental shortcut we take that places a higher value on an object that is scarce, and a lower value on those that are in abundance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instagram stories are a great example of this effect in use. By making stories available for only 24 hours, scarcity is created. Users feel the rush to tap and view them because of the fear of missing out.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\">\n<figure ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-images-1.medium.com\/max\/1600\/1*UE3xzWcZaXK1MlVsNwCebA.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"ikea-effect\">IKEA Effect<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Many of us love assembling the furniture we buy from IKEA because it gives us a sense of accomplishment. IKEA effect refers to the cognitive bias in which we place a disproportionately high value on products we partially created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By allowing users to mix and match different components, by giving them a great amount of freedom and flexibility in customizing the look and feel, Instagram turns a story into a product users create, which carries with it elevated perceived value because of the IKEA effect.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\">\n<figure ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-images-1.medium.com\/max\/1600\/1*v6FzGn1Emq-tfW2gPj275w.jpeg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"social-proof\">Social Proof<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Social proof is a psychological phenomenon where people look to others for clues concerning the correct behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A brilliant use of this bias can be found in the e-commerce websites of many small or medium businesses, whose brands may not be as widely known as Amazon, eBay or Alibaba. The tiny popup at the lower left corner showing a recent purchase from someone else signals credibility and validation, thereby increasing the likelihood of potential customers buying on the website.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\">\n<figure ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-images-1.medium.com\/max\/1600\/1*J7DUpoNmCF72hlbYT69JyQ.jpeg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"halo-effect\">Halo Effect<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Halo effect is also widely seen in e-commerce websites. It\u2019s the tendency for positive impressions of a person or object to spill over to another person or object.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With a price tag of nearly $300, the following headphones are probably one of most expensive items sold on Under Armour\u2019s website. By leveraging the positive image of Dwayne Johnson, the company hopes to make buying this pair of headphones a bit easier for their customers.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\">\n<figure ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-images-1.medium.com\/max\/1600\/1*Zpq6gx_deX1guLa3OApRKQ.jpeg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"foot-in-the-door-technique\">Foot-in-the-Door Technique<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Foot-in-the-door technique aims at getting a person to agree to a large request by having them agree to a modest request first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Writing a book review can be a daunting task for many. How can we encourage users to leave more book reviews with substance when they finish reading a book? The following design from Kindle is a clever use of this technique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By breaking down the big request of writing a book review into three smaller, less intimidating prompts, users suddenly have something much more manageable to start with. Once they complete a prompt, they can move on to the next one. Before they realize, they may have already finished the entire book review.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\">\n<figure ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-images-1.medium.com\/max\/1600\/1*soAusagOUnENrC5dyj2ryA.jpeg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"final-thoughts\">Final Thoughts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Clever use of cognitive biases in product design can lead to more user engagement, conversion or sales. There are <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/List_of_cognitive_biases\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">many more cognitive biases<\/a> than the five introduced above. I hope the examples here can inspire you to tap into the power of psychology in your next design project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How can we go beyond visuals when designing digital products? So far in my blog, I&#8217;ve covered two ways to do that: One is to understand the user mental model. Another is to be more cognizant of the relationship between design and metrics. There\u2019s a third way, which is to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[90,89,94],"tags":[123,95,124],"class_list":["post-999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-design-in-general","category-user-research","category-videos","tag-cognitive-biases","tag-mental-model","tag-psychology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.simon-li.com\/design-and-code\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.simon-li.com\/design-and-code\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.simon-li.com\/design-and-code\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.simon-li.com\/design-and-code\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.simon-li.com\/design-and-code\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=999"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.simon-li.com\/design-and-code\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1010,"href":"http:\/\/www.simon-li.com\/design-and-code\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999\/revisions\/1010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.simon-li.com\/design-and-code\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.simon-li.com\/design-and-code\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.simon-li.com\/design-and-code\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}