Cognitive Bias in Database Selection
After attending the Saturn 2013 Conference I was exposed to the use of "Cognitive Bias" in software architecture.
Here are some examples of cognitive bias I have seen as applied to the world of NoSQL database selection.
Anchoring Bias
The tendency to produce an estimate near a cue amount.
Example: "Our managers were expecting an RDBMS solution so that’s what we gave them."
Availability Heuristic
The tendency to estimate that what is easily remembered is more likely than that which is not.
Example: "I hear that NoSQL does not support ACID." or "I hear that XML is verbose."
Bandwagon Effect
The tendency to do or believe what others do or believe.
Example: "Everyone else at this company and in our local area uses RDBMSs."
Confirmation Bias
The tendency to seek out only that information that supports one's preconceptions.
Example: "We only read posts from the Oracle|Microsoft|IBM groups."
Framing Effect
The tendency to react to how information is framed, beyond its factual content.
Example: "We know of some NoSQL projects that failed."
Gambler's fallacy
The failure to reset one's expectations based on one's current situation.
Example: "We already paid for our Oracle|Microsoft|IBM license so why spend more money?"
- Also known as: sunk cost bias
Hindsight Bias
The tendency to assess one's previous decisions as more efficacious than they were.
Example "Our last five systems worked on RDBMS solutions. Why should we change now?"
Halo Effect
The tendency to attribute unverified capabilities in a person based on an observed capability.
Example: "Oracle|Microsoft|IBM sells billions of dollars of licenses each year, how could so many people be wrong".
Representativeness Heuristic
The tendency to judge something as belonging to a class based on a few salient characteristics - "Our accounting systems work on RDBMS so why not our product search?"
References
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Cognitive Bias in Database Selection - my 2013 blog on this topic after attending the CMU SEI meeting with the wonderful Mary Poppendieck