 Take a look at the picture above. You need to get a message to the other side of the mountain. Pick a tunnel. It appears that the tunnel on the left is blocked off while the tunnel on the right goes through the mountain. Most people would look at this picture and quickly choose the tunnel on the right. Based on the limited information you have, you made a judgement without questioning if other information is available. This is an example of the psychological effect "What you see is all there is" (WYSIATI) named by Daniel Kahneman. This cognitive bias is based on the concept that there are two thinking modes co-existing in our minds. System 1 is fast and automatic; often responsible for our "knee jerk" reactions. System 2 requires mental effort and is sometimes referred to as the rational mode. Look closer, do you see the phone box in the tunnel on the left? Now which tunnel would you choose? What if I now told you that the phone is broken and the tunnel on the right is blocked halfway through the mountain? How do you get the message to the other side? Do you still pick a tunnel? How did you get to the tunnel in the first place? What if there is a trail just out of the frame that safely leads to the other side? Why does the message need to get to the other side of the mountain anyway?
In Product Management WYSIATI can cause us to make irrational product decisions. We want to move quickly to deliver the shiny new thing and may not stop to consider if this is the correct shiny new thing for the market. To avoid falling into the WYSIATI trap, stop and think. What is the source of your information? Has the information been validated? Are there things you don't know you have yet to discover? Why are you building the product in the first place? What you see may not be all there is. Resources and recommended reading: https://www.lunadio.com/blog/what-facts-can-cause-designers-irrational-decision-making https://facilethings.com/blog/en/what-you-see-is-all-there-is https://jeffreysaltzman.wordpress.com/2013/04/08/wysiati/ https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/02/conclusions
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