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Adept

Clearance level 2.

  • 12 / 12
  • No visual on file
    Framing Effects Entry #0523

    Why calling something an investment ends the price discussion

    A cost is judged against a budget. An investment is judged against a return, and returns are estimated in the future where nobody can check them.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0523

    Calling a cost an investment does not argue the price down. It moves the number to an account judged by a forecast.

    Open file
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    Framing Effects Entry #0522

    The reason a metaphor decides a policy debate

    A metaphor imports the logic of its source. Once crime is a virus, the conversation is about containment, and containment was never voted for.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0522

    A metaphor is not decoration on an argument. It is the machinery the argument runs on, and it arrives with its conclusions pre-installed.

    Open file
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    Framing Effects Entry #0519

    Why a comparison class is chosen before a claim

    Best in class, safest, fastest growing. Each is a true statement about a set, and the set was selected after the numbers were known.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0519

    Choosing the comparison class is not a step before the analysis. It is the analysis, and it can be run backwards from the answer.

    Open file
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    Decision Architecture Entry #0150

    Why the wording of a default reveals the intended answer

    A pre-selected option is not read as an arbitrary starting point. It is read as advice from whoever built the form, and usually that reading is correct.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0150

    A pre-ticked box is advice with the author removed. Reading it as a recommendation is not a mistake, it is accurate.

    Open file
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    Decision Architecture Entry #0148

    Why you spend more when the currency is unfamiliar

    The count of digits is processed faster than the exchange rate. A larger nominal figure feels expensive and a smaller one feels cheap, whatever it converts to.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0148

    Digit count is read before exchange rate. The conversion then corrects an impression that has already been filed.

    Open file
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    Decision Architecture Entry #0147

    The reason opting in twice feels safer than once

    A second confirmation adds no information about the decision. It adds a record that the decision was taken carefully, which is what the process is really producing.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0147

    The second confirmation certifies nothing about the decision. It certifies that a decision was taken, to someone who will ask later.

    Open file
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    Decision Architecture Entry #0144

    Why a single reason persuades better than five

    Audiences do not total up arguments. They form an impression somewhere near the average, so a weak addition drags a strong case downwards.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0144

    You add and they average. Your fourth-best argument is not a contribution, it is a subtraction from the mean.

    Open file
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    Decision Architecture Entry #0141

    The reason two-minute delays kill more purchases than price

    A small procedural cost can outweigh a large financial one, because the delay gives the decision time to be reopened and the money does not.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0141

    A delay is not priced in time. It is priced in the chance that the decision reopens, and reopened decisions rarely close the same way.

    Open file
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    Choice Design Entry #0250

    Why the exit button moves after the second visit

    Interfaces are not designed once and left alone. They are tested continuously against the people using them, and the winning variant is whichever one performs.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0250

    Nobody has to intend an obstruction. Optimise retention for long enough and the process will discover it on your behalf.

    Open file
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    Choice Design Entry #0248

    Why removing prices raises enquiries and lowers trust

    Withholding a number generates contact and also generates an inference. Buyers assume anything concealed is concealed because disclosure would not help.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0248

    Silence is not the absence of a claim. Buyers read an omitted number as the worst plausible one, and that reading is rational.

    Open file
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    Choice Design Entry #0247

    The reason a tick box beats a signature for consent

    A signature demands a moment of deliberate assumption of responsibility. A tick is a step in a flow, and flows are completed rather than considered.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0247

    Consent rates and comprehension rates have separated completely. Both numbers are true, and only one of them is stored.

    Open file
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    Choice Design Entry #0244

    Why a single-page checkout changes the basket size

    Every additional step is an opportunity to reconsider. Compressing the steps removes exits, and it also removes the pauses in which a total gets reviewed.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0244

    A step in a flow is an exit and a review point at once. Removing it raises completion and removes the moment the total was checked.

    Open file