Cognitive Biases

You got a movie ticket and you are all set to watch the movie with your butter popcorn and coke. In the first 10 mins you got to know that this is a horrible movie and it is a waste of time to sit through this. But you paid heavy bucks for that cushy seat and that popcorn. Did you watch the shitty movie or did you have the courage to walk out and save time? Think for a second.

90% of the time we sit through the crap because we paid for it. Sigh! This is what is called Sunk Cost fallacy. Let us take another case.

Amazon says, if you buy for X amount, then it is free shipping. You are a little short than that X amount. Are you adding more to your cart than what is essential? Think for a second again.

90% of the time we do add to the cart to redeem that free shipping offer. This is called a Loss aversion. How irrational?

Like this we have systematic patterns of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment. Our decision making sucks because we are biased. The codex below shows the 100+ biases of human kind. Someone can help/exploit you design-fully and that is what behavioural design all about. Just knowing that we are biased will help you stop, pause, reflect and think before you make a decision.

Credit: Buster Benson