Few psychological theories had an impact so clear on UX design as Festinger’s Cognitive Dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort we feel when our behavior is inconsistent with our beliefs. Humans strive for their behavior and beliefs to be consistent, so when inconsistency (dissonance) arises, we do everything we can to restore balance, either by changing our behavior or belief, or by somehow justifying the behavior. Design dissonance occurs when a product or service sends out cognitive signals that run counter to the desired effect. Festinger’s basic hypotheses for cognitive dissonance are as follows: • The presence of dissonance, of being psychologically uncomfortable, will motivate the person to try to reduce the dissonance and achieve consonance. • In addition to trying to reduce dissonance when it is present, the person will actively avoid situations and information that would likely increase it. This theory, however, is frequently misused as a recipe. Experience shows that the “eliminate or reduce cognitive dissonance” mantra does not always lead to a better design, and that balance is key to keep users learning, engaged and away from the uncanny valley

1. Peter Wyatt-Brandenburg
Patricio Maller
Balancing cognitive resonance and
dissonance in product design

2. LEON FESTINGER
When prophecy fails
(1956)

3. Cognitive dissonance ::
The mental stress experienced by
an individual who holds two or
more contradictory beliefs, ideas,
or values at the same time.

5. BELIEFS BEHAVIOR

6. BEHAVIOR BELIEFS

7. BEHAVIOR BELIEFS
Self esteem
Social status

8. BALANCE
CONSONANCE
Performance, velocity, enjoyment,
relationships
DISSONANCE
Change, learning, challenge, exploration

9. STRESS REDUCTION
1.change
2.justify
3.ignore or deny

10. Get people to invest time, energy, and
participation with something
…then provide a simple and immediate way
for them to relieve dissonance.

12. 1. CHANGE cognitions or
behaviors
habit forming
learning

13. 2. JUSTIFY cognitions
or behaviors
•rationalize
•excuses

14. 3. DENY or IGNORE
cognitions or behaviors
•habit quitting
•adding consonance

15. McAfee
Contacts Monitor

16. Comfortable level of
privacy/information

18. I have nothing to hide

19. Stress reduction:
girlfriend level!

20. “I care about privacy,
But this is a free download”
“I will complete my data
and deactivate my account
after I got my download”

21. Well…consequences of
privacy breaches are
not that terrible…

22. I created a fake
account for cases like
this

23. Dissonant options

24. Get people to invest time, energy, and
participation with something,
…then provide a simple and immediate way
for them to relieve dissonance.

25. I could double my
crop for a dollar…

26. CONSONANCE
1.Concept
2.Conveyance
3.Theme

27. 1.Concept:
The idea
behind your
design

28. 2.
Conveyance:
The delivery of
your concept

29. 3. Theme:
The coordination
between all your
design elements
toward a unified
whole

30. Hooked, by a Bible app…
Sent a Merry Christmas message in
various languages
would people uninstall the app?
“People took pictures of the notification
on their phones and started sharing
them on Instagram, Twitter, and
Facebook. They felt God was reaching
out to them.”

31. COGNITIVE DISSONANCE
COGNITIVE LOAD
≠

32. DESIRED
FRICTION

33. The uncanny valley
- Masahiro Mori

34. DISSONANT
METAPHORS
extreme Skeuomorphism

35. USER RESEARCH
“Creation of beliefs”

36. healthy tasty
healthytasty
Group A Group B

37. Summary ::
We need dissonance
To learn, explore, change
We need consonance
To build, relate, enjoy

38. Q/A

39. Balancing cognitive resonance and dissonance
in product design

40. Patricio Maller
Patricio Maller holds a computer science degree and a Master of Science in computer
sciences (2000) with focus on human-computer interaction. He was a Fulbright
Scholar at The University of Alabama between 1998 and 2000, completing research
on the application of socio-cognitive theories to the acceptance of IT technology.
Patricio is a UX leader at Intel Security, working since 2006 at the Argentina Software
Design Center (ASDC). Patricio also worked at Motorola, and the educational
initiative educ.ar, leading a complete redesign.
Patricio has authored many articles related to processes Agile and UX, and is
currently a researcher at the Aeronautic University Institute.
Few psychological theories had an impact so clear on UX design as Festinger’s Cognitive Dissonance.
Cognitive dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort we feel when our behavior is inconsistent with our beliefs. Humans strive for their behavior
and beliefs to be consistent, so when inconsistency (dissonance) arises, we do everything we can to restore balance, either by changing our
behavior or belief, or by somehow justifying the behavior. Design dissonance occurs when a product or service sends out cognitive signals that run
counter to the desired effect.
Festinger’s basic hypotheses for cognitive dissonance are as follows:
• The presence of dissonance, of being psychologically uncomfortable, will motivate the person to try to reduce the dissonance and
achieve consonance.
• In addition to trying to reduce dissonance when it is present, the person will actively avoid situations and information that would likely
increase it.
This theory, however, is frequently misused as a recipe. Experience shows that the “eliminate or reduce cognitive dissonance” mantra does not
always lead to a better design, and that balance is key to keep users learning, engaged and away from the uncanny valley.
Balancing cognitive resonance and
dissonance in product design
Peter Wyatt-Brandenburg
Design leader with extensive experience addressing all the touch points across the
brand experience. A proven track record of developing cutting edge products and in
breaking paradigms in mature market segments with a focus on the customer.
Big picture thinking and detail resolution to arrive at innovative solutions in a team
environment that deliver solid returns on investment
Extensive experience working with multicultural and multidisciplinary teams as well as
with clients in a broad range of industries
Solid background in innovation, design practice development, team leadership, client
interface, proposal writing, and resourcing.

41. • A 2012 study using a version of the forbidden toy paradigm showed that
hearing music reduces the development of cognitive dissonance.[10] With
no music playing in the background, the control group of four-year-old
children were told to avoid playing with a particular toy. After playing
alone, the children later devalued the forbidden toy in their ranking, which
is similar findings to earlier studies. However, in the variable group,
classical music was played in the background while the children played
alone. In that group, the children did not later devalue the toy. The
researchers concluded that music may inhibit cognitions that result in
dissonance reduction.[10] Music is not the only example of an outside force
lessening post-decisional dissonance; a 2010 study showed that hand-
washing had a similar effect.[11]

42. BEN FRANKLIN & COGNITIVE
DISSONANCE
“He that has once done you
a kindness, will be
more ready to do you
another.”

43. DISSONANT UI
1.graphic elements
2. shapes and sizes
3.words that cheat mislead, or create
inappropriate associations