Confirmation Bias
Confirmation bias is a cognitive bias where your brain is more likely to notice confirming information than disconfirming information—you only see what you want to see.
How does confirmation bias affect product discovery?
This bias happens automatically. You aren't even aware it's happening. Even if customers tell you exactly why your idea is flawed, you aren't likely to hear it. The more attached you are to an idea, the stronger this bias becomes.
Confirmation bias compounds with another cognitive bias called escalation of commitment—the more time and energy you invest in an idea, the more committed you become to it. As you invest in designing, building, or researching solutions, confirmation bias makes you even less likely to act on customer feedback or experimental results that contradict your beliefs.
This is why product teams need to:
- Setup compare and contrast decisions rather than whether or not decisions
- Surface objections before running experiments
- Explicitly ask for contrary information
- Consider the opposite of what you believe
Even teams with every intent to hear and integrate customer feedback will struggle with confirmation bias. It affects how teams interpret customer interviews, usability tests, and experimental results. Recognizing and actively working against this bias is essential for intellectual honesty in product discovery.
Learn more:
- Why You Only See What You Want to See
Related terms:
- Compare and Contrast Decisions
- Whether or Not Decisions
- Escalation of Commitment
- Customer Interviewing
- Assumption Testing
Last Updated: October 25, 2025