UX for Beginners

Chapter 37. Hyperbolic Discounting

Usability is a big area of the UX world, and it is a critical element in most—if not all—projects. There is one cognitive bias that forms the backbone of usability, and it affects the way we predict the future and ourselves.

Hyperbolic Discounting might sound like a complex piece of mathematics, but it is actually a fairly simple idea:

Whatever is happening to you now (or soon) seems more important than what will happen to you later (or in the future).

It applies to your perception of value, and how you judge your own emotions, and how you make important decisions. It’s why most people don’t save money well, and why plans almost always take longer than expected. People get fat because eating unhealthy food is easier and more fun “now” than working out to be fit “later.”

Usability is basically the idea of getting people to the things they want as close to “now” or with as little effort as possible. The more work it takes or the longer they have to wait, the worse the experience feels.

Motivations versus Time

Earlier, in Chapter 15, you learned how time affects emotions, but not how it affects motivations. Check it out:

Imagine that I offer you $100 now, or $120 next year. In real life, you would probably take $100 now, even though $120 is clearly more money. Now imagine you want something that costs $100 now, or $50 next year, or $10 per month over the next 12 months.

In real life, most people will pay $10 per month—like you did with your smart phone—because ...