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Novice

Clearance level 1.

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  • No visual on file
    Choice Design Entry #0228

    Why a slider produces a different answer than a text box

    The control you use to enter a number quietly tells you what range of numbers is normal, and your answer drifts toward the middle of that range.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0228

    The control suggests its own range. A slider does not record your position; it negotiates one.

    Open file
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    Attention & Memory Entry #0176

    Why you stop seeing the banner you looked at yesterday

    The advertisement has not moved and neither have your eyes. What changed is that your brain has decided it is scenery.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0176

    Repetition trains the eye to skip. The banner that is always there becomes the one thing that is never seen.

    Open file
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    Paradox & Proof Entry #0151

    Why a rule that applies to itself breaks

    The sentence "this statement is false" has no stable answer, and the instability is not a trick but a boundary condition of language.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0151

    Systems cannot fully audit from inside. The rule that examines itself creates the exception it was built to prevent.

    Open file
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    Decision Architecture Entry #0128

    Why the order of questions changes the answers

    Ask about happiness first and then about politics, or reverse the order: the same person gives different answers to the same questions.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0128

    Earlier answers become context for later ones. A survey does not measure opinion; it measures opinion in the order the surveyor chose.

    Open file
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    Rhetoric & Omission Entry #0576

    Why a strong argument names its own weakness first

    An argument that raises the objection against itself usually persuades better than one that waits to be attacked, especially before a sceptical audience.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0576

    Naming the objection first converts it from a discovery into a detail.

    Open file
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    Naming & Sound Entry #0551

    Why some product names feel true before they mean anything

    Before a name means anything, its sounds already suggest size, softness and speed, and buyers judge the product accordingly.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0551

    Sound carries meaning before vocabulary does, so a name is judged before it is understood.

    Open file
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    Framing Effects Entry #0501

    Why ninety per cent fat free beats ten per cent fat

    Ninety per cent lean and ten per cent fat describe the same thing, and the two descriptions produce measurably different judgements.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0501

    The same fact stated from the favourable end is not the same message. Both halves are true; only one is offered.

    Open file
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    Incentive Design Entry #0376

    Why paying for blood donations reduced supply

    Adding money to a voluntary act can reduce how often it is performed, because the payment replaces the reason people were doing it at all.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0376

    A payment does not only add a motive. It can delete the one that was already there.

    Open file
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    Price Psychology Entry #0351

    Why nine at the end of a price still works

    Prices ending in nine still outsell round neighbours, and the reason is not that shoppers are fooled about the total but how the number is read.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0351

    A price is read left to right and encoded before it is finished, so the first digit does most of the work.

    Open file
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    Negotiation Frames Entry #0328

    Why your alternative decides your position

    Bargaining strength comes mostly from what you will do if there is no agreement, and that is settled before anyone sits down at the table.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0328

    Your leverage is the value of your best outside option, not the strength of your arguments.

    Open file
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    Habit Loops Entry #0301

    Why the cue matters more than the motivation

    Habits are triggered by stable context rather than renewed intention, which is why identical resolve produces different behaviour in different rooms.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0301

    Behaviour that repeats is usually cued rather than chosen. Change the cue and the choice reappears.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Choice Design Entry #0226

    Why the button you want is never the bright one

    Interfaces rarely hide the option you came for. They make it quiet, and visual weight decides the click long before the wording is read.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0226

    The cheapest way to change a decision is not to remove an option but to lower its contrast.

    Open file