Link to interesting posting on the why software developers better be familiar with psychology. "Do you REALLY want your search for the price of a product to return the fastest result to you?" You might be surprised by the answer...

A bit off topic for me, but I found this posting on "Cognitive Overhead" an interesting merge between technology and human behavior.  A tech product/service can fail because it gets ahead of  normal human impulses and tendencies.  I encourage you to read the whole thing. It is not long

This is one paragraph I found to be true after thinking about it.

Slow down your product.

We’ve all heard stories of Google’s relentless quest for search-result speed, but sometimes you need to let your user understand and appreciate what your service is doing for them. Studies have shown that intentionally slowing down results on travel search websites can actually increase perceived user value — people realize and appreciate that the service is doing a lot of work searching all the different travel options on their behalf.
 

While I WANT a quick result when I put in a search request for a good or service that has many possible suppliers, if I get it TOO FAST I am naturally suspicious that it was pre-determined and I am being steered.

(Wonder if car dealers employ the same technique---"I will speak to the sales manager" ALWAYS takes way too long.  Do I perceive they are in tough negotiations on my behalf and coming back too soon makes me think otherwise?)

Think about this the next time you do a search for a price sensitive good/service.  The result is ALREADY in the system, WHY does it take so long to retieve it?  Now you know.

Programmers and software developers have to be students of psychology as well.