| Recent
Articles |
What You Really Need Is A Chief Decision Officer
I saw this article in DM Review - Building the Analytic Organization - in which Peter Graham lays out a case for a Chief Analytics Officer and how that role would be part of improving the use of analytics in an organization.
Time To Unleash Web 2.0 With Open Source
Web 2.0 companies are largely built upon Open Source software. But how many of them do you consider significant contributors to Open Source? In general, there is an open ethic, and communities demand (and...
The Transition's Happening
The introduction of consumer-driven Web 2.0 technologies into businesses is set to usher in a new phase of productivity growth that could surpass that...
What Do You Want To See From An MSS
One of the hallway conversations we have been having lately is what would a customer want to see in a Managed Security Service. Many security companies leave behind a report, maybe some schwag, and...
It's Good To Have Ajax And Ruby Skills
The San Jose Mercury News has an interesting viewpoint on the desirability of web developers that can both code, and understand the requirements or ways that...
Courts: It's Ok To "Google" Employees
More than ever, it is important for people to know what "Google has on them". A recent court ruling indicates that employers can use data pulled up in a Google search. Although the case centers on an appeal where...
|
|
|
09.10.07
Detailed Descriptions & Decision Making
 By Savio Rodrigues
I'm reading "The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making" by Scott Plous. It's a really interesting book.
Plous explains:
"As the amount of detail in a scenario increases, its probability can only decrease steadily, but its representativeness and hence its apparent likelihood to subjects may increase"
The more detailed the description is, the more likely we are able to imagine it. Imagining a situation helps increase the situation's perceived likelihood vs. a situation we find difficult to imagine.
Plous describes an experiment by Tversky & Kahneman in 1982:
"Linda is 31 year old, single, outspoken, and very bright. She majored in philosophy. As a student she was deeply concerned with issues of discrimination and social justice, and also participated in antinuclear demonstrations. Please check off the most likely alternative:
A] Linda is a bank teller
B] Linda is a bank teller and is active in the feminist movement"
When this scenario was presented to 86 subjects, nearly 9 out of 10 selected "B". The study authors found similar results with "Bill", who was thought more likely to be an accountant and a jazz player than simply a jazz player.
Keep in mind that there is nothing in the description to indicate that Linda is a bank teller, but apparently enough to indicate that she is a bank teller *and* a feminist?!?
Some OSS vendors currently converting ~0.01% of their user downloads base into paying customers would love to increase their conversion rates. Some vendors do so with proprietary extensions or product versions, or by providing ‘enterprise' binaries for paying customers.
Could more detailed descriptions of situations where paid support would be beneficial help raise the conversion rate?
Comments
About
the Author:
Savio Rodrigues is a product manager with IBM's WebSphere Software division. He envisions a day when open source and traditional software live in harmony. This site contains Savio's personal views. IBM does not necessarily agree with the views expressed here.
|
|
