Hi there,

Today’s email dives into heuristics and lists.

Two topics that sound very boring.

I am struggling to come up with a witty kickoff to these topics… but trust me. It’s a solid read. 😅

Remote Octopus recommends clearly communicating if a list you share is ranked or in random order.

Human brains are often looking for cognitive shortcuts (👋🏻 hello, heuristics!). Seeing items presented in a list, our brain often thinks: It’s a ranking! The item at the top must be the most important!

But is your list actually ranked? Probably not! It’s usually just – a random list. 

Lists are a common collaborative brainstorming tool. We might drop them into Confluence, Figma, Slack or anywhere our work communication lives. 

We might list brainstormed product ideas, projects we’re working on, outstanding deliverables, off-site locations – and they can all easily be misinterpreted.

With lack of context on the list, Priya assumed that the top item is the most preferential. In the case of off-sites, this misinterpretation might have minimal impact (unless you were really tied to Nashville 🤠 ). But if the misinterpretation occurs when brainstorming or prioritizing key information then the impact can be significant.

With a tiny bit of context – that the list is in random order – you set Priya up for success.

🔥 Consider: Are you falling into this cognitive heuristic trap yourself when you read lists? The next time someone shares a list with you, consider pausing to ask them if it’s ranked or in random order. 

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