Psychological principles for every product designer

The decoy effect occurs when a person’s choice between 2 items changes when a third option, asymmetrically dominated, is introduced.

This third option is made easy to discard.

The decoy option is added to nudge the customers towards the intended target option, which is usually more than they really need. These subtle “nudges” are not meant to be manipulative and restrictive.

The curse of knowledge is a cognitive bias, which occurs when people fail to consider that others don’t have the same background knowledge or information as they do.

Someone knowledgeable in a particular field might find it difficult to put themselves into a beginner’s shoes (or someone who is not familiar with what they’re talking about) when trying to explain a concept at a basic level.

Have you felt that whenever you’re trying to remember someone you met in the past, you find it difficult to recall them from memory but recognise them easily through looking at their pictures?

These scenarios exemplify Recognition over Recall. It’s easier for people to recognize something previously experienced than recall it from memory. Recalling from memory leads to an increase in cognitive load.