Rarely Rational - Courtesy Bias
In this episode of our Rarely Rational series, Madhavi Nadig and Jyothi Sridhar discuss why courtesy may not always be welcome. Courtesy Bias makes it hard to get unfiltered opinions, since people may withhold their real views due to courtesy.“Satyam bruyat, priyam bruyat, na bruyat satyam apriyam, priyam cha nanrutam bruyat”Jyothi thinks this shloka aptly captures user researchers' expectations of their participantsIf feedback is not honest or incomplete, then it's not very useful to the researchersUser researchers seek critical feedbackPurely positive feedback is useful only in boosting egosTo be nice and positive, people withhold sharing negative aspects while giving feedbackFamily and close friends give raw, unfiltered feedback. Madhavi and Jyothi wish their target group did the same too.Due to Courtesy Bias, users value being courteous over honesty in their feedbackSome participants fabricate opinions that they think will please the researchersCourtesy Bias stems from cultural conditioning, a people-pleasing mindset, hesitation to disagree, etcMadhavi takes all qualitative feedback with a pinch of salt and looks for broad themesJyothi tries to make her interviewees feel comfortable enough to share their thoughts openlyMadhavi suggests taking power imbalance out of the equationCourtesy Bias could stem from introvertedness, feelings of Imposter Syndrome, paucity of time, or apathyOne may exhibit Courtesy Bias in public, but express freely in private settingsClosed polls may be better than open pollsNPS scores give you a sense of who's a promoter, detractor, or passive about your productIndividual user interviews may yield better insights than focus groupsIt's hard to convey negative feedback without sounding rude or harshHow do you handle negative feedback, if you get it?What appears as Courtesy Bias, could stem from multiple other unconscious biasesCourtesy Bias is itself a form of Response BiasMadhavi suggests explicitly disassociating from the product so that users won't worry about hurting your sentimentsEnsure questions aren't leading, so people don't feel the pressure to agree (to be "courteous")Jyothi believes news channels have figured out how to use Courtesy Bias to raise their TRPsMadhavi thinks the shloka needs an addition—don't propagate half-truths either.This podcast is brought to you by Adeptic Creative Labs with support from the team at Clearly Blue Digital.Write to us at podcasts@adepticlabs.com.Follow us on LinkedIn at Adeptic Creative Labs and Clearly Blue Digital.