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10 cognitive biases to avoid in User Research (and how to avoid them) 7/18/18, 9(47 AM
There are more than a 100 of them (188 according to this exhaustive
infographic), but for the context of User Research, I’m going to focus on
10 of them and give examples/anecdotes on why and how to avoid
them.
1. Framing e:ect
This is one that I have seen most repeatedly occurring in the context of
User Research and one which is also tricky to avoid if you don’t pay close
attention to your words and actions.
What is it?
Example
A question such as “What did you like/dislike while using this product”
can cause the users to only focus on the positives/negatives of the
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product (even for the rest of the interview duration) and it might lead to
false positive/negative insights.
2. Con=rmation Bias
This is a super-villain of biases. Extremely common and diVcult to
rectify. But it is one of the biggest goof-ups that researchers can make,
and is often used by proponents of quantitative research to justify why it
is better to go with large data sets.
What is it?
Example
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3. Hindsight Bias
Human beings are really bad at thinking in time. And hindsight bias
stands testimony to it.
What is it?
In order to create synchronicity and order to the ebb and ]ow of time,
we try and >nd reasons for the events that happened in our past,
without having any factual evidence for it. It is often called the “I
knew it all along” phenomenon.
Example
When we conduct research, we often ask users to dig into their past to
Ond examples and anecdotal pieces of evidence. And often when we dig
deep into the why’s, we hear several reasons about how they faced
certain diVculties/took certain actions.
For e.g: A user was complaining about his business not running well due
to the oncoming of the internet and people buying things online rather
than coming to the stores. So when I posed the counter question of why
he was not getting into e-Commerce, I received a rather surprising
answer: “The websites are not taking good care of customers and if there
is any damage/problem with our product it re]ects badly on our name”.
It was a clear indication that he was not really aware of how e-
Commerce works and the fact that customers had the option to return
damaged items and provide reviews to sellers.
Customers can never be blamed for making up such reasons, but it’s
really important for interviewers to be aware of them and constantly
double check the evidence to support their statements/anecdotes.
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As a researcher, this also means that when we don’t have all the answers
to a certain aspect of what we were supposed to uncover, we need to
admit that instead of covering up with false reasons.
What is it?
We are social animals, and this means that our actions and words
are presented in a way that makes us look good amongst others,
even though they might be inaccurate. This is so deep-rooted in our
behavior that we even disdainfully label those who don’t follow these
norms as anti-social.
Example
For e.g: A middle-aged social media user who wants to portray an image
of a leader among his/her family. He/She would never post or say
something that might hamper that image, and hence even if there is a
usability issue and the user is Onding diVcult to navigate through the
app, they might still not complain about it. A skilled researcher would
take the e[orts to re frame the questions in a way as to boost their social
desirability (for e.g: If you could design this better for your dad/mom,
what would you do?). This could give clues as to issues they really Ond
annoying but never speak up about.
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10 cognitive biases to avoid in User Research (and how to avoid them) 7/18/18, 9(47 AM
What is it?
Example
6. Serial-Position E:ect
The U-shaped destiny of long lists.
What is it?
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10 cognitive biases to avoid in User Research (and how to avoid them) 7/18/18, 9(47 AM
Example
In tasks such as card sorting, this bias can lead to users omitting or
ignoring the middle elements, which might hamper the e[ectiveness of
the activity/experiment.
A good way to get around is to break them down into smaller chunks or
randomize the arrangement a few times to nullify the bias.
This bias can also creep into things such as to-do-lists and feature lists,
especially for those who are in charge of getting many things done at the
same time. Categorization is a highly e[ective strategy to counter this.
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What is it?
If you have ever played charades, you already know this bias. We tend to
overestimate the extent to which others know what we are
thinking/trying to convey.
Example
Often you would be surprised to know that whatever they said in the
Orst place was interpreted by you in a completely di[erent manner.
8. Clustering Bias
Can lead to a lot of false positives and false negatives in cognition
What is it?
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10 cognitive biases to avoid in User Research (and how to avoid them) 7/18/18, 9(47 AM
Example
As researchers, Onding patterns in data is bread and butter for us. But a
drawback of qualitative analysis is that with such a short sample size, it
is often impossible to avoid seeing patterns that might be just smaller
sets of randomness that appear to have a commonality. An e[ective tool
to counter it is to triangulate patterns, and to match data-driven insights
based on large sample sizes with the deeper insights found in qualitative
research.
9. Implicit Bias
Again a really tricky and dangerous one. Often termed as stereotyping in
popular culture.
What is it?
Example
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10 cognitive biases to avoid in User Research (and how to avoid them) 7/18/18, 9(47 AM
What is it?
Example
When you conduct usability tests and you hear a user talking about
making a ‘mistake’ doing a certain task, pay attention! That might be the
biggest clue towards creating a better product/experience.
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Really good products make the user think less and get more done. Think
of any app/website where you blame yourself for not being able to do a
certain thing right. There is an opportunity for improvement.
In summary, these are the 10 biases you can take away to improve your
research practice
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