How Cognitive Biases Affect our Software Architectures • Birgitta Böckeler • YOW! 2022

This presentation was recorded at YOW! 2022. #GOTOcon #YOW

Birgitta Böckeler - Technical Principal, Thoughtworks

RESOURCES

ABSTRACT
At the time of writing this, Wikipedia’s “Cognitive bias codex” has more than 200 entries, and it feels like Daniel Kahneman’s “Thinking Fast and Slow” is referenced in every other software conference talk. It’s official: Human beings are just not the rational thinkers we like to think we are.

When we approach software architecture in an agile way, we are trying to embrace the uncertainty that comes with all software delivery, but at the same time we want to be diligent about the decisions that are harder to change later. This talk will go through just a few of the cognitive biases that can trip us up as architects and developers when we are making these decisions, and how to soften their potentially negative impact. [...]

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[danielt]

15:09 Importantly, when designing experiments and analyzing the data, consciously give more weight to refutations of the hypothesis than confirmations of it.

[samhughes]

Yowza! I was blown away by the sxcellent, basic good sense in this talk, and she hadn’t even hit her conclusion yet!!!

[gJonii]

There's something to be said about making small probability go to 0%: it allows you to not think about it anymore. You are done with it, your mental resources previously used to deal with that scenario can now be fully re-allocated.

Having to half-heartedly prepare for a disaster is worse than being able to fully focus on preparing for disaster, if disaster is coming. Uncertainty means always split focus, so no matter what happens, you're going to be less prepared for it than you could've.

[velo]

i really becomes interesting if that one freaky bug with the one weird solution, was just coincidence that it worked :)

[mariankowalski]

It was a very nice talk and I have learned from it, up until one all too common biased statement was just thrown in there casually. Please don't destroy your great presentation with it, we want progress and people attending to this type of material, don't push them away