Why picking certainty is important

Go back to 1998, the pre-Bookmyshow days. Imagine standing in the queue for buying tickets to a movie. There was a nice board saying Available and Full for each of the shows in the theatre. You see a few signs of Full written on the board and you get the jitters?—?am I going to be the first one to NOT get a ticket. The anxiety is killing and you really hope that the person in front of you doesn’t buy a ticket to your show. It causes you to act irrationally at times?—?if the person is on the phone, you might just ask them to stand aside while you move up the queue. You try to eavesdrop their conversation, overthink, overcalculate etc. It’s not a good experience overall.

Now check out the Bookmyshow website with its clear transparency around how many tickets remain and where?—?it makes the entire experience far better. Even if your preferred show is full, you dont feel that bad. It set the right expectation in your mind & that was key.

That’s what certainty does to you.

So, whether you are building a product or a service for a customer, whether you are setting up a process or a rulebook, whether you are drafting a contract or whether you are making plans with friends or family?—?aim for building in an element of certainty. The person enjoying the certainty will value it far more?—?a customer will pay a premium, a process will be more robust, a contract will be more trusted and your friends or family will be more happier with the outcome of the planning process.

The only thing that is certain is certainty after all!