David Dylan Thomas: Understanding cognitive bias

Whether you realize it or not, you are a designer — we are all designers of something — whether it be a system, products, meetings, spaces, conversations, or something else, and as a designer, understanding bias will help you do more good.

David Dylan Thomas’s work centers on the intersection of bias, design, and social justice. He's the author of the new book, Design for Cognitive Bias, serves as a Content Strategy Advocate at Think Company, and is the creator and host of the Cognitive Bias Podcast.

This is a conversation about the power we each have to affect the world around us. David's work will help you to see the ways that we are each unavoidably biased, and more importantly, what we can each do about it. No matter *what* it is you do, understanding cognitive bias will help you do it better for everyone that it affects.

Listen now on Apple, Spotify, Google, Overcast, or Youtube.

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Links & resources mentioned

• David Dylan Thomas

  • Website

  • Twitter

  • David's book: Design for Cognitive Bias

  • David's TEDxNYC talk on productive discourse

• Implicit Association Test - Harvard

• Rebuild Black Business

• Concepts

  • Cognitive bias

    • Framing effect

    • Confirmation bias

    • Illusion of control

    • Cognitive fluency

    • Availability heuristic

  • Anti-racism

• Related ENLIVEN episodes

  • Dan Gould: Fighting unconscious bias and attacking systemic problems with entrepreneurship

  • Alex Hillman: How to play the long game of business

• Marty Cagan - ethical risk

• Design Justice Network

• Books, media, etc

  • The Social Dilemma

  • White Fragility

  • How to Take Smart Notes

  • The User Illusion

  • The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat