Yesterday I read an article in the Washington Post saying that the United States is a nation of narcissists. People from the US collectively rate their states to have played a larger role in the history of the country than they did.

Then the researchers repeated the study on a global scale. They asked 6,000 university students in 35 countries how much they thought their nation had contributed to world history. Russia came out on top with a whopping 61%. Russian students believe that Russia shaped the course of world history by 61%. ✨Wowzers✨

In second place came the UK with a nice 54,6% followed by India, 53,9%. At the low end of the spectrum, Switzerland was the most humble at 11,3% followed by Norway, 12,3% and New Zealand at 17,7%.

When the researchers added up the percentages from all countries they came to a total of 1156%. It is clear to see that these students have an overblown view of their country’s contribution.

Researchers point at two psychological effects to explain these exaggerated results:

➡ The availability bias. This is a mental shortcut that relies on immediate examples that come to a given person’s mind when evaluating a specific topic, concept, method or decision.

➡ The Confirmation bias. This bias suggests that people don’t perceive circumstances objectively. They pick out those bits of data that make them feel good because they confirm their prejudices. This way, they may become prisoners of their assumptions.

User research

These phenomena also plague UX researchers. I have seen it in others and may have succumbed to it myself. After two or three interviews you ‘already know’ what the outcome will be, unconsciously. It goes beautifully. According to plan. Any feedback that suggests that your ideas may be incorrect is silently ignored. Filtered out of the report. Or the person who ‘knows’ what the results should be like cherry-pick only that which supports their theory. I have had owners of companies ignore the conclusions of my research, and 5 out of 8 candidates, entirely because “they did not know what they were talking about”. For a follow-up session, this person requested to speak to just one person from the previous who gave “the right type” of feedback.

This is why UX research is best done by people who are not dependent on the results of the research for their job or and who are not ‘friendly’ with the person who requests the research. This person should also present and explain the results to all people involved in the project.

You as a designer can take this information into account any time you see someone who has a stake in a positive outcome of the research lead it.