Psychology Flashcards
Status Quo Bias
People tend not to change the way things currently are.
This saves your brain’s mental resources and avoids stressful decisions.
Some subscription companies exploit this bias unethically by concealing:
1. Subscription reminders, incentives to change (e.g cost), shortcuts to cancel (Fitt’s Law)
That’s why many customers keep their subscriptions active (e.g, gym, Peloton) even if they barely use them. They are considered Zombie Customers
How could unjustified discounts lower brand perception over the long term?
These discounts train customers to:
1. doubt (and avoid) regular prices, expect (and wait for) steeps discounts, look for loopholes to get better deals, mistrust your product and brand.
It’s the “Sleazy Salesmen Effect”
What is offboarding empathy?
Forcing customer feedback in a churn survey and not showing that you’ve listened can be worse than not asking for any feedback at all.
You don’t want your customers to remember their last interaction with you as an insensitive haggle or interrogation.
Noble Edge Effect
When companies demonstrate genuine caring and social responsibility, they tend to be rewarded with increased brand loyalty, and greater profits.
Dark Pattern: Friction
Adding unreasonable friction to a journey to make it hard for customers to leave your product is unehtical
Peak-End Rule & Exit-Points
Your brain heavily weighs the peaks and the end of an experience.
That’s why it’s important to allow users to disengage from your product with a sense of completion
Customers churn for different reasons, some of which you simply can’t control.
So remember that just like in real life:
How you say goodbye is as important as how you say hello.2
Framing Customers’ Jobs
A job-to-be-done is when someone wants to change an existing situation into a preferred one. And establishing the right frame of reference is key to making sure people understand your product.
Labor Illusion
People trust & value results more when they obtain them after a carefully crafted delay.1
In this case, showing an effort to customize the meditation experience elevates the perceived value of future interactions.
Endowment Effect
Users value something more if they feel it’s theirs. 1
Knowing what users want (Jobs-to-be-Done) can help you craft a personalized offer for anyone.
Reciprocity
People feel the need to reciprocate when they receive something.1
In real life, it’s okay to ask for a favor, but would you ask for 6 favors in a row to a stranger?
The same goes for apps. If you want to ask for information or permissions, make sure you’ve given value before.
Consider User Psych
Asking for information (or money) without giving value can work when a person is highly motivated.
However, when the context isn’t optimal (low motivation and ability1) it rarely works.
But if you craft every interaction with the intention of giving value2 first, you can overcome the worst context!
When Everybody Zigs, Zag.
To rise above the competition, brands need to embrace the power of differentiation.1
Framing & Anchoring
The way you present information affects how users interpret and decide.
The same facts presented in two different ways can lead to different outcomes or decisions from people.1
It’s best to frame your experience around the core value of your product, or else you risk wasting users’ brain cycles.
Similarly, anchoring the status quo as very time-consuming helps users see the value of your product or feature.2
Personalization Expectations
Asking questions creates expectations.
If you give your users the impression that you’ll customize an experience based on their inputs, not delivering on that expectation can quickly backfire.
Personalization is an excellent way to improve activation and retention.1
But personalization done wrong is worse than no personalization at all.
Psych Framework
Every user interaction will either add or subtract Psych, depending on the effort required and the alignment with goals.
The sum of these interactions determines how likely your users are to take action.
For example, Blinkist wasted my psych with a series of optional questions that provided very little value in return.1
But, there are also ways to psych up your users. We show you a step-by-step framework with tons of examples in our Product Psychology course.
