By ZacGery
via zacgery.blogspot.com
Submitted: Mar 21 2013 / 22:39
There are many facets to software design. Some are architectural decisions while others are business related. Sometimes human psychology intercepts these decisions and unknowingly clouds judgment. A common example is loss aversion, which refers to "people's tendency to strongly prefer avoiding losses to acquiring gains." For most individuals the power of loss far outweighs the possibility of gain. The concept of loss aversion was demonstrated by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman through a series of experiments. In these experiments they evaluated when loss aversion occurred and what circumstances were necessary to override the feeling. Some studies revealed a 2:1 ratio as participants demonstrated a much higher displeasure with loss. With this knowledge, it behooves programmers to consider the unintended consequences of both business and software decisions.
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