Unconscious Thought Biases

Unconscious thought biases are automatic mental shortcuts that distort our perceptions and decisions, often without our awareness. Recognising them helps improve our understanding and decision-making.

Understanding Thought Biases and Their Impact on Customer Experience Design

Designing customer journeys and experiences is a complex task that requires a deep understanding of customer behavior, preferences, and expectations. However, thought biases can significantly impact this process. These thought biases operate below our conscious awareness and can distort the way both customers and professionals perceive situations. As a result, decisions may not accurately reflect customer needs, leading to less effective and less satisfying customer experiences.

For customer experience (CX) professionals, recognising and addressing thought biases is crucial. For example, confirmation bias might lead a team to favor feedback that supports their existing strategies, while ignoring insights that suggest a need for change. Similarly, the availability heuristic can cause teams to rely too much on recent customer interactions or easily remembered data, rather than considering a more comprehensive analysis. By becoming aware of these thought biases, CX professionals can better interpret customer data, leading to more informed and balanced decisions.

Understanding thought biases gives CX professionals an advantage in creating exceptional customer journeys. It helps them critically evaluate their assumptions and decisions, ensuring that customer experiences are based on a well-rounded understanding of customer behavior. This awareness also encourages innovation, as professionals are more likely to question existing methods and explore new, more effective strategies. Learning about specific thought biases and how to avoid them will provide practical insights, making CX professionals more skilled at designing experiences that truly resonate with customers.

Summary Points:

  • Complexity of CX Design: Creating effective customer journeys requires a deep understanding of customer behaviour, preferences, and expectations.

  • Impact of Unconscious Biases: Unconscious thought biases can distort perceptions, leading to decisions that do not accurately reflect customer needs, resulting in less effective and less satisfying customer experiences.

  • Importance for CX Professionals: Recognising and addressing unconscious biases is crucial for making informed, balanced decisions in customer experience design.

  • Advantage of Awareness: Understanding these biases allows CX professionals to critically evaluate assumptions, foster innovation, and create more accurate and resonant customer experiences.

  • Continuous Learning: By studying specific examples of unconscious biases, CX professionals can avoid common pitfalls and improve their ability to design experiences that truly meet customer needs.

10 unconcious thought bias examples

1. Confirmation Bias

This bias involves favouring information that confirms pre-existing beliefs or hypotheses while disregarding or undervaluing information that contradicts them. For instance, a person who believes that crime rates are increasing might selectively notice news stories about violent crimes and ignore reports showing a long-term decline in crime statistics. This selective attention reinforces their belief, even if the overall data contradicts it. Confirmation bias can lead to skewed perceptions and poor decision-making because it prevents people from considering all available evidence objectively.

CX Designers: In CX design, confirmation bias can lead teams to favour customer feedback that supports their pre-existing beliefs about what customers want, while dismissing data that contradicts those beliefs. This can result in designs that fail to address actual customer needs. To mitigate this, CX professionals should actively seek out and consider feedback that challenges their assumptions.

2. Availability Heuristic

The availability heuristic is a mental shortcut that relies on immediate examples that come to mind when evaluating a topic, concept, or decision. For example, plane crashes receive extensive media coverage, making them more memorable. Consequently, people might overestimate the frequency of such accidents, even though air travel is statistically one of the safest modes of transportation. This bias can lead to irrational fears and behaviours, such as avoiding air travel despite its safety. It highlights the impact of vivid, easily recalled information on our judgments, often at the expense of more accurate, less sensational data.

CX Designers: CX designers might overemphasise recent customer interactions or issues that received significant attention, leading to decisions that are not representative of the broader customer base. For example, a recent surge in complaints about a specific feature might overshadow overall satisfaction with other features. Designers should ensure they are basing decisions on comprehensive data rather than recent or highly visible events alone.

3. Negativity Bias

CX Designers: Negativity bias is the tendency to give more weight to negative experiences or information than to positive ones. This can skew perceptions of reality, making the world seem more dangerous or problematic than it is. For example, people might focus on news about economic downturns, political instability, or natural disasters, while overlooking positive developments like technological advancements, reductions in poverty rates, or improvements in public health. This bias can lead to a pessimistic worldview and influence public opinion and policy in ways that do not reflect the overall progress being made.

CX Designers: Focusing too heavily on negative feedback can skew CX improvements towards fixing problems rather than enhancing positive aspects of the customer journey. While addressing issues is important, it’s equally crucial to build on what customers love about the experience. Balancing negative feedback with positive insights can lead to a more well-rounded and appealing customer experience.

4. Anchoring Bias

Anchoring bias occurs when individuals rely too heavily on the first piece of information they receive (the “anchor”) when making decisions. For example, if someone hears that the cost of living is extremely high in a particular city, they might continue to believe that living expenses are unaffordable, even if subsequent information shows that prices have stabilised or even decreased. This initial impression can disproportionately influence their perception and decision-making, making it difficult to adjust their views based on new information.

CX Designers: Initial concepts or early feedback can disproportionately influence the direction of CX design. For instance, if a prototype receives mixed reviews, the initial criticism might anchor the team’s perception, causing them to undervalue subsequent positive feedback. CX designers should remain open to evolving their designs based on ongoing feedback rather than being anchored to initial impressions.

5. Status Quo Bias

Status quo bias is the preference for the current state of affairs, leading to resistance to change. People often assume that existing conditions or technologies are the best options, even when better alternatives are available. For example, individuals might believe that traditional energy sources like coal and oil remain the dominant forms of energy, despite the rapid expansion and increasing market share of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. This bias can hinder the adoption of innovative solutions and slow progress in areas like environmental sustainability.

CX Designers: A preference for maintaining existing customer journey elements can prevent innovation and adaptation to changing customer needs. CX professionals might resist changing a long-standing process or feature, even when data suggests that customers would prefer a new approach. Embracing change and continuously seeking improvements are essential for staying relevant and competitive.

6. Stereotyping

Stereotyping involves forming oversimplified and fixed ideas about a particular group of people based on limited information. This bias can lead to misconceptions about the abilities or characteristics of certain ethnic or social groups. For instance, outdated or prejudiced views might lead someone to believe that a particular group is less educated or less successful, ignoring significant educational and economic achievements within that group. Stereotyping perpetuates inequality and can influence everything from personal interactions to institutional policies.

CX Designers: Relying on stereotypes about certain customer demographics can lead to designs that do not accurately reflect the diversity and complexity of the customer base. For example, assuming older customers are less tech-savvy might lead to overly simplified digital experiences that do not meet their actual needs. CX designers should base their decisions on detailed customer insights rather than stereotypes.

7. Framing Effect

The framing effect occurs when people react differently to the same information depending on how it is presented. For example, a government policy might be perceived as ineffective or harmful if it is framed negatively by a particular media outlet, whereas a balanced or positive presentation might highlight its benefits and successes. This bias demonstrates how the context and presentation of information can shape public perception and influence attitudes and decisions. Understanding this can help individuals critically evaluate information and consider multiple perspectives before forming opinions.

CX Designers: The way feedback and data are presented can influence CX design decisions. For instance, framing a customer satisfaction score as “only 70% satisfied” rather than “70% satisfied” can lead to an undue focus on dissatisfaction. CX professionals should be aware of framing effects and strive to present data in a balanced manner to make more objective decisions.

8. Bandwagon Effect

The bandwagon effect is the tendency to adopt beliefs or behaviours because they appear to be popular or widely accepted. For instance, someone might assume a political or social movement is universally accepted or rejected based on its prominence on social media, without recognising the diversity of opinions that actually exist. This bias can lead to conformity and discourage critical thinking, as people might follow trends without fully understanding or evaluating the underlying issues. It highlights the influence of social dynamics on individual choices and perceptions.

CX Designers: Trends in the industry or popular opinion might lead CX designers to adopt certain features or approaches without critical evaluation. Just because a competitor has implemented a chatbot, for example, doesn’t mean it’s the right solution for your customers. CX professionals should critically assess trends and ensure that new initiatives align with their unique customer needs and business goals.

9. Overgeneralisation

Overgeneralisation involves making broad statements or conclusions based on limited evidence. For example, believing that all environmental policies are ineffective because of a few highly publicised failures ignores the successes and positive impacts of many environmental initiatives. This bias can lead to a distorted view of reality and hinder progress by dismissing valuable efforts and solutions. It underscores the importance of considering a wide range of evidence before drawing conclusions and the need to recognise the complexity of issues rather than simplifying them based on isolated incidents.

CX Designers: Drawing broad conclusions from limited feedback can lead to misinformed design choices. For example, assuming all customers prefer a particular communication channel based on feedback from a small segment can alienate other segments. CX designers should ensure their decisions are based on comprehensive data that reflects the diverse preferences of their entire customer base.

10. Recency Bias

Recency bias is the tendency to give undue importance to recent events when evaluating long-term trends. For example, after a recent recession, people might overestimate its long-term impact on the economy, assuming permanent damage despite historical data showing periods of recovery and growth following economic downturns. This bias can lead to pessimistic outlooks and decisions based on short-term fluctuations rather than a balanced view of historical patterns. Recognising recency bias can help individuals and policymakers maintain a more nuanced perspective and make more informed decisions that consider both recent developments and long-term trends.

CX Designers: Giving undue weight to recent feedback or trends can skew long-term CX strategies. For instance, a recent dip in satisfaction scores might lead to drastic changes, ignoring the overall positive trend over the past year. CX professionals should consider both recent and long-term data to make balanced decisions that support sustainable customer satisfaction.

Summary

Designing and implementing customer journeys and experiences is a complex task that requires a deep understanding of customer behaviour, preferences, and expectations. As a CX professional, you face the significant challenge of unconscious thought biases that can distort both your perceptions and those of your customers. These biases operate below the level of conscious awareness and can lead to decisions that do not accurately reflect customer needs or desires, resulting in less effective and less satisfying customer experiences.

Recognising and addressing these biases is crucial for your role. For instance, you might encounter confirmation bias, which leads teams to favour feedback that supports existing strategies while ignoring valuable insights that suggest the need for change. Similarly, the availability heuristic can cause an overreliance on recent customer interactions or highly visible data points, overshadowing more comprehensive analyses. By becoming aware of these and other unconscious thought biases, you can more accurately interpret customer data, leading to more informed and balanced decisions.

Understanding unconscious thought biases provides you with a significant advantage in creating exceptional customer journeys. It equips you with the tools to critically evaluate your assumptions and decisions, ensuring that customer experiences are based on a holistic and accurate understanding of customer behaviour. This awareness fosters innovation, encouraging you to question the status quo and explore new, more effective strategies. Learning about specific examples of these biases will provide practical insights into common pitfalls and how to avoid them, ultimately making you more adept at designing experiences that truly resonate with customers.

Recognising these biases can inspire you to adopt a more reflective and analytical approach, encouraging you to question assumptions and seek diverse perspectives. This leads to more innovative and inclusive designs that better meet customer needs. Additionally, being aware of biases like the availability heuristic helps avoid overreacting to recent trends or feedback, ensuring decisions are based on comprehensive and representative data. Continuous learning about cognitive biases through training and education can further enhance your capabilities, fostering a culture of improvement within your team.

By incorporating these insights into your work, you can create more robust and adaptable strategies, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty. Regularly reviewing decision-making processes, seeking diverse team perspectives, and using comprehensive data analysis tools can mitigate the impact of unconscious biases. In conclusion, understanding and addressing unconscious thought biases is essential for designing better customer experiences. This knowledge inspires innovation and excellence in creating meaningful and impactful customer journeys, ultimately leading to more satisfied customers and improved business performance.

Bitezise summary points

  1. Complexity of CX Design: Designing and implementing customer journeys requires a deep understanding of customer behaviour, preferences, and expectations.

  2. Challenge of Unconscious Biases: Unconscious thought biases can distort perceptions and lead to decisions that do not accurately reflect customer needs, resulting in less effective experiences.

  3. Importance of Recognising Biases: Identifying and addressing biases like confirmation bias and the availability heuristic is crucial for making informed, balanced decisions.

  4. Advantage in CX: Awareness of unconscious biases equips CX professionals with tools to critically evaluate assumptions, fostering innovation and more effective strategies.

  5. Innovation Through Awareness: Understanding biases encourages questioning the status quo, leading to more innovative, inclusive designs that better meet customer needs.

  6. Data-Driven Decisions: Avoiding overreliance on recent trends by recognising biases ensures decisions are based on comprehensive, representative data.

  7. Continuous Learning: Ongoing education on cognitive biases enhances capabilities and fosters a culture of improvement within teams.

  8. Strategies for Mitigation: Incorporating insights into decision-making, seeking diverse perspectives, and using data analysis tools can mitigate the impact of biases.

  9. Impact on Business Performance: Addressing unconscious biases leads to better customer experiences, resulting in more satisfied customers and improved business outcomes.

Further reading

“Thinking, Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman

This book by Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman is a seminal work on how the mind works, particularly focusing on the two systems of thinking—fast, intuitive thinking and slow, deliberate thinking. It explores various cognitive biases, including those that affect decision-making in customer experience.

Key Takeaways: Gain a deep understanding of how unconscious biases influence our decisions and how to mitigate their impact in both personal and professional contexts.

“The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business” by Charles Duhigg

While this book focuses more on habits, it also delves into the automatic behaviours and biases that shape our actions, including in customer interactions and business decisions.

Key Takeaways: Learn how habits and unconscious biases are formed and how they can be changed to improve customer experience and decision-making processes.

“Invisible Influence: The Hidden Forces that Shape Behavior” by Jonah Berger

This book delves into the subtle, often unconscious influences that drive our decisions, including those related to customer behaviour and experience design.

Key Takeaways: Understand the psychological forces that shape customer decisions and how recognising these can lead to better marketing, service design, and customer experience strategies.

“Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness” by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein

This influential book introduces the concept of “nudging” people towards better decisions by understanding and working with human biases. It is particularly relevant for those looking to improve customer experience by designing environments that promote better decision-making.

Key Takeaways: Learn how to design choice architectures that can guide customers towards better decisions, improving their overall experience with your brand.