Cognitive Bias in Design: Why Feedback is Essential to Avoid Oversights
As designers, we like to believe that our decisions are rooted in logic, research, and user needs. However, the reality is that cognitive biases often influence our choices, sometimes without us even realizing it. These biases shape the way we interpret data, frame problems, and arrive at solutions. While experience and intuition play a crucial role in design, unchecked biases can lead to oversights that compromise the effectiveness of our work. The best way to counteract these biases? Actively seeking and embracing feedback.
A well-known story illustrates the power of fresh perspectives in problem-solving. A bus gets wedged under an overpass, and engineers, emergency responders, and city officials try various complex methods to free it, raising the bridge, cutting parts of the bus, or even dismantling the overpass. None of these seem practical. Then, a child suggests a simple solution: deflate the bus’s tires to lower it just enough to drive it out. The solution works.
Just like the bus scenario, designers sometimes get stuck in their own assumptions, failing to see an obvious solution. Feedback helps deflate these cognitive biases and makes way for clearer, more effective design thinking.
Understanding Cognitive Bias in Design
Cognitive biases are mental shortcuts our brains use to make decisions quickly. While they can be helpful in certain situations, they often lead us to make flawed assumptions. Here are some common biases that affect designers:
1. Confirmation Bias
Designers may subconsciously seek out information that supports their pre-existing beliefs while ignoring contradictory evidence. For instance, if a designer is convinced that a minimalist interface is the best approach, they may overlook data suggesting that users struggle with hidden navigation elements.
2. False Consensus Effect
This occurs when designers assume that users think and behave as they do. A designer might create an interface based on their own preferences, forgetting that their target audience has different needs and levels of familiarity with technology.
3. Framing Effect
The way information is presented can influence design decisions. For example, if usability testing results are framed positively, “80% of users completed the task successfully”, designers might ignore the fact that 20% still faced difficulties, which could be a significant usability issue.
4. Sunk Cost Fallacy
After investing time and effort into a design, it isn’t easy to accept that it may not be working. Designers may resist making necessary changes because they feel too attached to their initial ideas, even when feedback suggests otherwise.
5. Recency Bias
Designers might give more weight to recent feedback rather than considering a broader range of data. This can lead to impulsive changes based on the last critique received rather than a well-rounded understanding of user needs.
Why Feedback is the Antidote to Bias
While cognitive biases are unavoidable, feedback provides a crucial reality check. Seeking diverse perspectives helps designers challenge their assumptions and uncover potential oversights. Here’s why feedback is essential:
1. User-Centered Validation
No matter how skilled a designer is, real users provide insights that can’t be predicted. User testing, surveys, and interviews expose issues that designers might have overlooked due to their biases.
2. Collaborative Thinking
Feedback from teammates, whether developers, product managers, or other designers, can introduce fresh perspectives. Different stakeholders bring unique viewpoints that can help refine and improve the design.
3. Iterative Improvement
Design is an iterative process, and feedback fuels continuous refinement. Constructive criticism allows designers to make incremental improvements rather than committing to flawed ideas.
4. Avoiding Tunnel Vision
When designers work on a project for an extended period, they can develop tunnel vision. External feedback helps them step back and see the bigger picture, ensuring the design remains aligned with user needs.
Embracing Feedback: Best Practices
To truly benefit from feedback, designers must cultivate an open-minded approach. Here are some best practices:
Seek feedback early and often. Don’t wait until the final stages of design to gather input. Early feedback prevents major rework later.
Encourage diverse perspectives. Gather feedback from users, colleagues, and even people outside your industry to challenge assumptions.
Separate ego from design. Feedback isn’t a critique of you as a designer; it’s an opportunity to improve the product.
Analyze patterns in feedback. Avoid overreacting to isolated comments. Look for recurring themes to identify genuine usability issues.
Iterate and test again. Implement changes based on feedback and test again to ensure improvements address the right problems.
Conclusion
Cognitive bias is an inevitable part of the human experience, and designers are no exception. The key to overcoming these biases is to actively seek and embrace feedback. By inviting diverse perspectives, testing with real users, and maintaining an iterative mindset, designers can create more effective, user-friendly products. The best designs aren’t born from individual genius, they’re the result of continuous learning, adaptation, and collaboration.