Cognitive Biases in Product Decisions
We are all irrational.Recognizing biases like the 'Ikea Effect' helps us build products that people actually want, not just what we want to build.The Ikea Effect says we value things more if we helped create them.
1. The Ikea Effect(Co - Creation)
The Bias: People overvalue things they helped create.
Product Application: Don't do everything for the user. Let them customize their profile. Let them drag and drop their dashboard widgets.
Example: Notion. It starts as a blank canvas. Users spend hours building their "System." Once they have built it, they never leave because they are personally invested.
2. Sunk Cost Fallacy(The Zombie Feature)
The Bias: "We've already spent 6 months on this feature, we have to launch it."
The Reality: No, you don't. Money spent is gone. The only question is: "Is the next dollar best spent on this, or something else?"
Shipping a bad feature has Negative Value . It adds maintenance cost, complicates the UI, and confuses users. Kill zombies early.
3. Confirmation Bias(The Happy Talk)
The Bias: We search for data that confirms our beliefs and ignore data that contradicts them.
The Trap: User Research.
PM: "Would you use a feature that does X?"
User: "Sure, I guess." (They are being polite).
PM: "See! They want it!"
The Fix: Ask about past behavior. "When was the last time you tried to solve X? What did you do? How much did it cost?" If they haven't tried to solve it, it's not a real problem.
4. Choice Overload(Analysis Paralysis)
The Bias: Too many choices lead to anxiety and non-action. (The Jam Study).
Product Application: Pricing Pages.
Don't offer 10 plans. Offer 3: Good, Better, Best. Highlight one as "Recommended."
In onboarding, don't ask "Who do you want to follow?" with a list of 1000 people. Suggest 5 based on their interests.
5. Loss Aversion
The Bias: The pain of losing $10 is twice as intense as the joy of gaining $10.
Product Application: Free Trials.
Instead of "Gain access to X," frame it as "Don't lose your data."
"Your trial ends in 3 days. Upgrade to keep your 5 projects active." This is more powerful than "Upgrade to get unlimited projects."
Conclusion
You are building products for human brains, and human brains are buggy.Understand the bugs(biases), and you can design a system that works with them, not against them.