What is heuristic?

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It is estimated that an adult human being makes, on average, 30 thousand decisions per day , from the most complex to the simplest.

This number may be a bit shocking to you, after all we don't even realize how many choices we make every day. But even opting for 1 or 2 spoons of sugar in your coffee counts, and adding it all up makes this number even more tangible.

Even though we can identify the different decisions we need to make by looking more closely , it is not so easy to notice them while we are making them. And there is a scientific explanation for this: heuristics !

Working like the brain's autopilot , it is what tells us how many spoons of sugar to add, or reminds us to brush our teeth in the morning. Much more than basic things, heuristics also influence the way you consume and choose products that you will use.

Therefore, in this content you will understand the relationship between this concept and the design process and product development. Follow along!

We can understand heuristics as a specific mental trigger in our be our engineer database is essential for effective marketing ain that helps us make decisions more quickly and often automatically.

Imagine that this morning you got up to go to work, got ready, made breakfast and finally left the house. On the way to work, the following question kept running through your mind: did I close the bedroom window?

Questions like these, such as not remembering whether you unplugged something, turned off the light or locked a door, are more than common in our daily lives. And the explanation for why they happen is heuristics.

Working like an autopilot, heuristics will process routine decisions in our lives and execute them without us having to reason about them. This is a measure of energy containment that our mind uses, otherwise it would be impossible to carry out the 30 thousand decisions we make every day.

The heuristic, then, acts as a pre-defined script for our routine.

Because it contains such characteristics, this mental trigger can be changed over time. An example of this is that when we were children, our parents had to remind us to brush our teeth and today we do it automatically with heuristics. It's almost like that saying: practice makes perfect!

Over the years, we have trained our brains to use heuristics in different situations. Here we will understand how this autopilot works when it comes to consuming and how it can help in building better products!

Heuristics and consumption decisions
Surely at some point in your life you have bought something on impulse. Or, on a quick trip to the supermarket, you bought the same brand of product you are used to, without even comparing the price and quality with others on the shelf.

These are two simple examples of heuristics at work in your shopping. As we grow up and become consumers, we tend to follow a pattern called consumer behavior.

This concept shows us that all customers, regardless of their market niche, have some common actions that they perform at the time of purchase. Examples of these actions are the use of online search engines , such as Google, whenever they feel a need to consume.

Another aspect that is very present in consumer behavior is the attraction to mental triggers such as scarcity or loss . Examples of such applications are marketing campaigns for last-minute items or limited-time items.

Because we are inserted in this context, our brains' heuristics ended up learning to pay some attention to this type of campaign, acting as a catalyst when it comes to purchasing.

Heuristics facilitate our path through the customer journey and help us better and more quickly understand the choices our customers and users make based on their previous purchases.

All of this happens very quickly and unconsciously . But understanding this process is essential, not only to create a strong brand that is remembered by consumers, but also to ensure a better experience for those who choose to use your product. Let's understand this relationship better below.

Heuristic analysis and user experience
heuristic analysis adoption process
Heuristic analysis is, within the scope of Design Thinking , a procedure developed by the Nielsen consultancy to analyze and adjust products according to the needs of its customers and users.

In other words, Nielsen's Heuristics (as the best-known heuristic analysis model is also called) are nothing more than 10 principles that help Design and Product professionals (UX Designers, Product Designers , Product Managers , for example) in discovering errors and improvements in the development of a solution.

Especially in the Discovery process , the opportunities found through heuristic analysis allow us to correct errors early in the project, always thinking about the best experience for the user.

“Heuristics is an evaluation process that helps digital products become really good. This is because it focuses on usability, that is, on the experience of the customer who will be on the other side of the screen interacting with the platform.”