Hi ,
Did you know:
- Pain killers are more powerful if they're red (and if they're branded);
- Sleeping pills are more effective if they're blue;
- Food tastes sweeter if it's rounder;
- Wine tastes better if you tell people it's expensive (and if you pour it from a heavier bottle); and
- Your car really does drive better if you've had it cleaned.
These are all examples of the placebo effect that have been demonstrated to be true.
To quote British advertising executive Rory Sutherland:
"If you change the story about something, you change its meaning.
If you change the meaning, you change our visceral response to it.
And if you change our visceral response to it, you basically change our evaluation of it. It becomes a different
thing."
It may sound crazy, but the power of the mind is real.
Here's the thing...
For
data scientists used to working with numbers all day, it can be difficult to accept that anything matters beyond what can be explained using hard facts. Yet, numbers only get you so far and it doesn't matter how technically "good" a model is, if nobody wants to use it.
At the end of the day, the users of data products are emotional humans, not unemotional machines.
There's no denying the importance of building technically strong models. Yet, it is through connecting to the needs and emotions of business stakeholders that they can see the true value of your work - which is the only way your work will ever get used.
Data storytelling,
visualisation and data product UX design are all examples of the placebo effect. But that doesn't mean they are in any way fraudulent or unimportant.
The placebo effect is very real. Use it wisely and for good.
But don't ignore it just because it's not only about
the numbers.
Talk again soon,
Dr Genevieve Hayes
p.s. If you want to know more about the placebo effect, check out this video, first brought to my
attention by friend-of-the-list Rod Aparicio (whose daily emails I highly recommend):
