Filtered dossier

Entries

A declassified pattern in the Hiddenry archive.

  • 12 / 12
  • No visual on file
    Persuasion Systems Entry #0257

    Why scarcity works even when the item is not wanted

    Announcing that something is about to become unavailable raises interest in people who had none. The loss being avoided is the option, not the object.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0257

    What is defended is the option, not the object. Removing the possibility of choosing later is what creates the choice now.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Choice Design Entry #0233

    The reason a search box changes what people want

    Autocomplete offers a finished question before the user has finished asking one. The suggestion is usually accepted, and it was not the original query.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0233

    Suggestion shapes the question. What is easy to ask becomes what gets asked, and the alternative results are never observed.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Choice Design Entry #0232

    Why a confirm dialogue wording decides the click

    A cancel button labelled with self-criticism is harder to press than one labelled no. The option is present and its cost has been raised.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0232

    Both options remain, and one has been made expensive to say. Price can be added to a choice without touching the price.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Attention & Memory Entry #0180

    Why a moving object is remembered worse than a still one

    Tracking a moving target consumes the same capacity that encoding it into memory requires. The object is seen clearly throughout and recalled poorly afterwards.

    Master
    The hidden part #0180

    Position and identity are maintained by competing budgets. Tracking preserves where at the cost of what.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Paradox & Proof Entry #0158

    The reason more information can lower accuracy

    Adding weakly relevant detail to a judgement raises confidence and often leaves accuracy flat or worse. The extra material dilutes the signal it was meant to sharpen.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0158

    Non-diagnostic detail is averaged in rather than ignored. Confidence tracks volume of information; accuracy tracks its quality.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Cognitive Bias Entry #0103

    Why experts are worse at forecasting their own field

    The deeper someone knows a subject the more certain they become, and the certainty grows faster than the accuracy that should justify it.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0103

    Depth of knowledge widens the confidence gap. The expert who knows the most reasons also has the most material from which to build the wrong story.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Cognitive Bias Entry #0102

    The reason yesterday’s price feels like the right price

    A number you saw once becomes the standard against which every later number is judged, even when you cannot remember where the first one came from.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0102

    The last price paid is not evidence of the right price. It is the starting point of a comparison that was never asked for.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Cognitive Bias Entry #0106

    The reason near-misses feel like progress

    An outcome that almost succeeded is registered as skill developing rather than as a loss. In a chance process there is no such thing as almost.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0106

    Proximity is only informative where skill operates. In a chance process a near-miss is a loss wearing the costume of progress.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Rhetoric & Omission Entry #0580

    Why repetition of structure beats repetition of words

    Repeating a word draws attention to the speaker. Repeating a shape draws attention to the claim, and the claim then sounds truer than it is.

    Master
    The hidden part #0580

    Form that is easy to process is mistaken for content that is easy to believe.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Rhetoric & Omission Entry #0581

    The reason a concession makes the following claim stronger

    In a sentence built around but, the clause after the conjunction carries the argument. The concession before it supplies balance and costs almost nothing.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0581

    But is not a balance; it is a hinge. Everything before it is conceded and everything after it is asserted.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Rhetoric & Omission Entry #0579

    The reason a list of three persuades more than four

    Three items read as a complete set and stay retrievable. A fourth adds information while making the group harder to hold and easier to argue with.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0579

    Three reads as complete and stays retrievable. The fourth item buys information and spends credibility.

    Open file