The Subjectivity of User Satisfaction
A friend (call her Alice) shows up at our local pub everyday at 6pm and has a glass of Albariño. It’s like clockwork, to the point where the bartender (Bob) pours a glass out around 5:58, so that it’s ready for Alice when she shows up. The fun part here is that every now and then, Bob pours out something different — say, a Vermentino, or a Pigato, or some such — and Alice is quite OK with this. The reasoning being • The “fuzziness” around a routine : Alice likes a little variety. Not too much, but every now and then, mixing up the wines gives her a little jolt of satisfaction. Doing the same thing over and over may be efficient, but it can also remove some of the color from life. Deviation from the mundane can make life just a little bit more happy. • The lack of self-knowledge that we all have : Alice used to think that she only liked Sauvignon Blanc, till she accidentally had an Albariño, and now she’s hooked. Sometimes you need to be thrown a curve-ball to waken you to ...