Design for Cognitive Bias

A Book Apart #33

by David Dylan Thomas

We humans are messy, illogical creatures who like to imagine we're in control-but we blithely let our biases lead us astray. In Design for Cognitive Bias, David Dylan Thomas lays bare the irrational forces that shape our everyday decisions and, inevitably, inform the experiences we craft. Once we grasp the logic powering these forces, we stand a fighting chance of confronting them, tempering them, and even harnessing them for good. Come along on a whirlwind tour of the cognitive biases that encroach on our lives and our work, and learn to start designing more consciously.
 THIS BOOK

Genres: Design, Psychology, Nonfiction, Business, Art Design, Website Design

116 pages, Paperback

First published August 25, 2020

About the author

David Dylan Thomas has given presentations on the intersection of design, bias, and social justice at TEDNYC, SXSW Interactive, Confab, LavaCon, UX Copenhagen, Artifact, and the Wharton Web Conference. His work combines more than ten years of content strategy experience in entertainment, healthcare, publishing, finance, and retail with a deep understanding of bias cultivated by researching and producing over a hundred episodes of The Cognitive Bias Podcast. Learn more about his talks and ideas at daviddylanthomas.com.

Reviews

[Marrije · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lees dit boek, collega's! Nu! Of in ieder geval snel!

[Margo L · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO GOOD. I kept underlining and sending passages to my co-workers until I told them they just needed to read it. Crucial reading for anyone working on, well, anything.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read for anyone who works on the web. Practical and tactical, this book is filled with great examples of how bias invades our work and how to bring it to light. Quick, important read.

[Eliza Marin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful for contextual information on products and ux research organization. Also some smart info that makes great conversation. Love it.

[Milana Stanic · Rating 5 out of 5]

So when I picked this up I expected a ton of facts and a difficult read that would maybe be worth it. I was wrong, this is an exceptional book, easy to read, full of crazy examples that I adore and so freaking important! I might be biased (pun intended) but if you are any kind of a designer (or creator) this book is a must read. It brings light to roads less taken, some dirt on the industry I had no idea about and asks critical questions that we all especially in the IT need to think about now more than ever. It is not only the biases of AI that are currently popular we need to keep an eye on, but also get out of our head, try to break things we just made and ask bigger questions on how someone could completely abuse our solutions and in what way. I have only scratched the surface on this topic so please have that in mind when reading this review.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the better A Book Apart titles I’ve read. It’s relatively quick and super approachable (even fun) but packed with useful content. Thomas quickly explains each concept, gives supporting examples, and provides specific, actionable tools/methods to apply to your design work. This would be a great design book club read since it’s short AND useful; important for busy people who have lives outside work to live.

[Candi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great and quick read! We all understand what biases are but are we always aware of them? Probably not. David talks through various biases and how they can affect our design decisions. Once we're more aware of our biases, we can tackle the design problem with different perspectives. He has a lot of great follow-up reads if this type of thinking interests you.

[Alex Marsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an enjoyable and quick read.
It might be worth doing a bit of a deeper dive on the citation about the Nazi's doing drugs.

I loved the insights for minimising bias when facilitating brainstorming and workshops.

[Jason Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book which helps product designers be aware of, and hopefully navigate, some of the cognitive biases that can affect product development. From user biases to stakeholder & personal biases, the book is accessibly written and should be considered required reading for anyone looking to build ethical products that solve real problems.

[Kara Foley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice little book on cognitive biases. Gives some interesting examples of biases in action. I was familiar with many of them but the examples help bring them to life. I also admittedly skimmed the end of the book.. might prefer a podcast (which the author has created I hear!) or other format. Also enjoyed his writing style, very conversational!

[Carlos Alonso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una introducción divertida, amena y fácil de leer sobre los sesgos cognitivos, con estrategias para tenerlos en cuenta a la hora de diseñar, tanto desde el punto de vista del que diseña, como del que va a utilizar ese diseño. Imprescindible.

[Seth G · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short read full of information about or biases and how to address them. Very well written by the king talking about biases himself DDT. I have the pleasure of knowing David. He's as smart as his book makes him sound. He's even smarter actually. And such a nice guy.

[Harvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a thought-provoking analysis of a number of biases that can produce unintended consequences in design. Even if you disagree (as I do) with many of the author’s political convictions, you will benefit from a humble self-analysis with this book as a guide.

[Ben Haines]

Liked some of the practical tips / tools like 8-up. Otherwise felt like he was just summarizing behavioral psych studies then going "isn't that crazy???". Similar to the design of everyday things in that way. The style was rough for me, he used the construction "x, you know, y" 6 times.

[Christi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love DDT's presentation on this topic, and the book does not disappoint. This was a quick read with a lot of interesting ideas and concepts that can help us become better designers, such as blue team/red team challenges.

[Ulises Estrada · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good reading to get into cognitive biases, it is important to mention that it is not a playbook.

[Andrew Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informal, breezy read on what could be a heavy subject. Will be easy to turn back to this time and again as a reference in the day to day of my work.

[Ricardo dos Santos · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is a book that every designer should read

[Carlito Centeno · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has become a book that I will always carry when working on a project. The list of resources at the end is invaluable.

[Neregauzak]

2021/05/25

[Kiran Mascarenhas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly written, short, and packed with goodness; so much heart and brain and soul, so full of memorable nuggets and shows and tells. So deeply ethical.

[Saskia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic, concise read that give plenty of references for further research. Thomas includes plenty of real world examples, and his sense of humor come through in his writing.

[Samuli Hannula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly a super clear and encompassing takeout in cognitive biases and ethics in digital design. And the resources list at the end of the book takes it even further.

[Ali Angco · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book combines psychology, design ethics, and a variety of tools to make anyone a better designer or even - a better human.

[Andi Valentin · Rating 5 out of 5]

work book!

the way this was written made it so easily consumable (content design at it’s finest, folks). a lot of thought provoking insights around the many ways bias can show up in our work.

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review originally appeared in the February 2021 issue, on page 95, of "Technical Communication".

Bias is something that affects everyone, whether they realize it or not. Maybe an employer seems to hire people of a specific gender or ethnicity more often. Or maybe people purchase products which have an advertisement image that uses certain lighting or arrangement. Perhaps you even have a preconceived notion of what bias is. In Design for Cognitive Bias, David Dylan Thomas explores how your mind works and guides you towards making decisions without your realizing it.

In his book, Thomas breaks down how cognitive bias works. The first chapter discusses user bias and how people make decisions in an often-irrational way, even if they do not realize it. He writes in an engaging style that pulls in the reader and uses pop culture references in the headings to both add levity and convey concepts. After exploring the inherent biases in your mind, Thomas delves into designing content to meet those biases. To demonstrate such biases, he displays two advertisements for the same lamp, with the only difference being the alignment of the lamp in the photo. Images with the lamp on the left were perceived as “classic-looking,” while the images with the lamp on the right were viewed as “modern-looking,” despite the lamp being identical in both images. Retailers have done studies on such concepts and create their commercial images accordingly. Further into the book you learn how not only do the customers have biases, but the producers do as well. When crafting a survey, the phrasing of a question may lead the customers to a response. For example, the survey asking, “Should this person be driving a car?” may push the survey taker towards a certain response. Last, now that the book has examined both user and stakeholder bias, it encourages the reader to reflect inward to learn about their own biases.

Included throughout the book are examples and illustrations which ably assist in conveying the concepts being presented. While some are charts or graphs, many demonstrate real life examples, such as a comparison between a train timetable and the more modern phone app. Combined with rich, storied examples, and congenial but professional dialogue, Design for Cognitive Bias is an enjoyable read. Keep in mind, though, that opinion is certainly biased.