Scientific Definition
Looking where the light is, not where the keys are.
Plain-English Definition
Looking where the light is, not where the keys are.
Feynman Explanation
Most analytics happen where the data is, not where the answer is.
Core Principle
Looking where the light is, not where the keys are.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Looking where the light is, not where the keys are.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Decision analytics drift toward convenience.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Most analytics happen where the data is, not where the answer is.
Examples
- Measuring conversion because we have the data, not because it's the lever.
- Decision analytics drift toward convenience.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Start with the question; build the data toward it, not the other way.
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.
- Start with the question; build the data toward it, not the other way.
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.
We notice what's present more than what's absent.
Vague personality descriptions feel uniquely accurate.
Doing something good gives us mental permission to do something bad.
We remember the beginning and the end of a list better than the middle.
Deriving general rules from specific examples; the leap from instance to concept.
The brain evolved to reason adaptively, not always truthfully, to reduce the cost of errors.
We solve problems by adding, even when subtracting would be better.
Assuming that if one option is true, another must be false, when both can be true.
Presuming a purposeful actor behind events that may have no actor at all.
What cannot be settled by experiment is not worth debating.
A finite set of well-defined instructions for solving a problem or performing a computation.
Every model simplifies reality; some are still useful.