Scientific Definition
Our perception is shaped by what we selectively pay attention to.
Plain-English Definition
Our perception is shaped by what we selectively pay attention to.
Feynman Explanation
What you look for is what you find. What you ignore is what hurts you.
Core Principle
Our perception is shaped by what we selectively pay attention to.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Our perception is shaped by what we selectively pay attention to.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Dashboards create attentional bias by what they display.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
What you look for is what you find. What you ignore is what hurts you.
Examples
- A sales team only notices deals that are closing, missing churn signals.
- Dashboards create attentional bias by what they display.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Rotate what is measured and highlight the metrics no one is watching.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Rotate what is measured and highlight the metrics no one is watching.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
Favoring suggestions from automated systems over conflicting human judgment.
Two options seen side-by-side look more different than they are in isolation.
We choose more variety than we'll actually want when picking for the future all at once.
We overestimate the intensity and duration of emotional reactions.
Judging a decision by its outcome rather than by the quality of the process.
How will I feel about this in 10 minutes / 10 months / 10 years?
Inattention or forgetfulness caused by low attention, hyperfocus, or distraction.
Forgetting to compare an offer with the next-best alternative.
Outcomes that could have happened but did not.
Overthinking a situation so that decision-making stalls.
The first number on the table silently sets the range for every number after it.
Tversky & Kahneman's classic: identical outcomes flip from 'risk averse' to 'risk seeking' when framed as lives saved vs. lives lost.