The IKEA Effect

The IKEA Effect is a cognitive bias that describes the tendency for people to place a disproportionately high value on products they partially created.

Why it matters?

• Early user-accquistion usually involves working with users directly to build a product that fits their needs. This process can lead to a stronger sense of ownership & attachment to the product and eventually the goodwill of the users.
• Giving more responsibility to employees in the creation of a product can lead to a stronger sense of ownership & attachment to the product, ultimately a win-win for the product and the employees.
• In my everyday work, recreating things from scratch has always been a good way to learn and understand the underlying concepts, for instance, this site was put together by me with a reason to publicly document my learnings, if you had ask me its value? priceless.

TLDR:

You HAVE to be emotionally invested in whatever you do, your emotions HAVE to cloud your judgement.

Resources

• https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/11-091.pdf
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/traversmark/2024/06/12/a-psychologist-explains-the-ikea-effect-how-labor-leads-to-love/