How Consumer Psychology Informs AI Product Design

I would draw a distinction from the egg theory. The core of the egg theory is that when a product or process is too easy, people don’t feel a sense of contribution or accomplishment. The IKEA effect, though, focuses on the value people place on things they’ve had a hand in creating.

For me, when it comes to AI product design, this means personalizat... See more

t’s harder to give up my agent when it learns my email style over time. If Granola, meanwhile, improved over time based on my feedback—how I like to take notes, which takeaways are important to me—the product also becomes harder to give up. And same for a NSFW chatbot—if I build a romantic relationship with shared history, that’s tough to say goodb... See more

For me, when it comes to AI product design, this means personalization. We all like things that we help mold—including our copilots and agents and chatbots. More tools should be customized with personal preferences and styles, rather than monolithic feature sets. Maybe an email agent lets me customize it before I let it run loose in my inbox. And s... See more