Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.
Log in Create free account100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.
Thinking styles: Mend hidden cracks in your market
Summary
Key Insights
-
•
Thinking styles describe people’s cognition within a specific frame or goal, not as universal personality traits.
-
•
Demographics do not reliably predict thinking or decision-making patterns in users.
-
•
The same individual can exhibit multiple thinking styles depending on context or over time.
-
•
Thinking styles include a mix of inner thoughts, emotional reactions, and personal guiding rules.
-
•
Using thinking styles layered over mental model skylines reveals gaps where a product may fail to support certain cognitive approaches.
-
•
Storytelling characters embody thinking styles rather than demographic stereotypes to foster nuanced understanding.
-
•
Designing by thinking style rather than demographic allows better inclusivity for different cognitive needs.
-
•
Friction and adversity in situations often trigger changes in thinking styles, requiring adaptable design.
-
•
Thinking styles are frame-dependent; one person’s style as a caregiver differs from their style as a professional or friend.
-
•
Applying thinking styles to product features and strategy helps align solutions with users’ real lives and intentions.
Notable Quotes
"We are marinating in this assumption that demographic groups define cognition, but they don't."
"Thinking styles are not horoscopes or Myers-Briggs; they only apply within a specific frame of intent or goal."
"If you try to describe a person as 'the grumbler' across all their life, you miss the context and purpose."
"Demographics don’t cause thinking; past experiences, personal rules, and emotions do."
"Your thinking style while caregiving might be ‘Give dignity and agency’ but change as resistance grows."
"Friction in a situation can cause a person to switch thinking styles, not personality types."
"We can use mental model skylines with thinking styles to find support gaps we didn’t see before."
"Casting diverse characters who represent thinking styles breaks down demographic stereotypes."
"A frustrated passenger at a delayed flight might just need acknowledgment, not dismissal."
"Talking about thinking styles is just as easy and fast a shortcut as talking about demographics, but more useful."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"High quality personal connections mean you can engage on a level playing field with serious professionals."
Marc Fonteijn Ru ButlerIncrease your confidence, influence, and impact (through a Professional Community)
December 3, 2024
"You have to make the hard thing easier to do. Behavioral change must be lower friction."
Dem Gerolemou Alexis Oh Neef RehmanClimate technology fundamentals
May 15, 2024
"Doing at least two benchmarking rounds lets you see if optimizations have measurable impacts over time."
Daniela Magaña Flores Ariane Rahn Jeff Ephraim BanderAhead of Competition: Learn What UX Benchmarking Can Do for Your Business Today
March 10, 2022
"I met with my partners and leaders to really dig into their hopes, fears, and dreams about where they wanted to go."
Abbey Smalley Sylas SouzaScaling UX Past the Size of Your Team
January 8, 2024
"If you’re like us, you’d love to have 100% of the UX talent every project needs, but your team isn’t large enough."
Patrick CommarfordDesign Staffing for Impact
January 8, 2024
"We were interested in supporting networks of self-organization and mutual aid formed between refugees and host communities."
Xenia Adjoubei Sean BruceEmpowering Communities Through the Researcher in Residence Program
March 29, 2023
"Make it easy to do the right thing, and as a side effect, make it harder to do the wrong thing."
Craig VillamorDesign Systems for Ethical Design
January 26, 2023
"DP&M tools pull together necessary reference materials and design deliverables, showing how they relate to each other."
Jon Fukuda Ellie KryslDesign Planning and Management Support
October 3, 2023
"31% say design just executes product’s vision, 48% say product and design have different visions, only 21% say they work together towards shared goals."
Iain McMaster IHan ChengDesign and Product: from Frenemy to Harmony
November 29, 2023