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How Well Do Our Words Reflect Our Inside World? A psychological perspective on the limits of self-report, introspection, and understanding the human mind

Season 1 Episode 11 Published 1 year, 3 months ago
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How much can you trust what users tell you?

In this solo episode, we dive into one of the most slippery yet essential tools in UX research: self-reporting. From interviews to surveys, self-reports are everywhere—but they come with hidden psychological traps.

We explore:

  • Why self-reported data can be both useful and misleading
  • The psychological reasons people often misrepresent their own behavior
  • When to trust what users say—and when to dig deeper
  • The subtle difference between described and observed behavior

If you’ve ever relied on user quotes to justify a design decision—or been burned by data that didn’t translate to real-world outcomes—this episode will give you a sharper lens for interpreting what users say versus what they do.

Tune in to sharpen your research instincts and make your design decisions more psychologically grounded.

Go to thedesignpsychologist.substack.com to get episode summaries right in your inbox so you can easily reference, save, and apply what you learn.  

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