Survivorship Bias

People focus on visible successes while neglecting the broader context, such as failures or unseen alternatives, leading to skewed conclusions.
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Usability and Interaction
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Highlights success stories to motivate users.

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Can obscure failures, leading to unrealistic expectations.

Best paired with

Feedback Loop
Users reassess success metrics by considering failures.
Nudge
Subtle cues prompt users to consider unseen failures.
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Onboarding
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Landing Pages
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Conversion
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Task Success
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Decision-Making
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Cognitive Load

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Avoid negative impact
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The Study

Survivorship Bias explores how individuals' decisions and perceptions are influenced by underlying psychological mechanisms. Research on this bias has revealed its role in everyday behaviours and decision-making processes. Studies often involve experiments where participants' reactions are observed to determine the bias's impact. This understanding helps designers and marketers craft more effective, user-centric experiences.

The result

The results indicate that survivorship bias significantly influences decision-making by altering perception, recall, or emotional response. These findings provide valuable insights into cognitive behaviour, informing design strategies.

Actionable tips

1.

Present failure data for balanced insights.

2.

Use case studies to show full success context.

3.

Test narrative balance for informed decisions.

Ingredient pairings

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Best pairings

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Feedback Loop

Encourages balanced decision-making while reducing oversight.
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Nudge

Encourages critical thinking while preserving user agency.
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Progressive Disclosure

Supports informed learning while reducing selection bias.
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Choice Architecture

Improves analysis while reducing overconfidence.
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Worst pairings

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Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)

Exploits social anxiety by showcasing only visible winners.
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Scarcity Principle

Manipulates perceived value by omitting failure cases.
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Authority Bias

Encourages blind adherence to selective narratives.
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Default Bias

Discourages evaluation of risks and alternative approaches.

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