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The Sphex
Sphexyness:Automatically following trigger->response patterns, even when they’re not helpful
Find cheeto in mouth
Eat cheeto
Notice bowl of cheetos is empty
Feel bad about myself, and vow not to do it again
Imagine eating cheetos Put cheeto in mouth
See cheetos Imagine eating cheetos
Trigger -> Action Patterns
We form goals: • “I’m going to try more things.”
“I’m going to be healthier.”• “I’m going to be more productive.”
But we have these existing trigger->action patterns:
• See cheetos -> eat cheetos• Open laptop -> Go to Reddit• Have difficulties -> Give up
“When Trigger occurs, I will do Action”
Stairs available -> take stairs
Crave junk food between meals -> Drink water
Get email requiring <2 min reply -> Answer right away
Open Reddit -> Close Reddit
Rewrite your code with Trigger-Action Plans (TAPs):
Average effect of forming a TAP:
40 56248 7250
Hours studying/month (example)
No TAP
With a TAP
“When Trigger occurs, I will do Action”
Worry about going broke -> Remind myself that I’ve already thought about this and decided I have plenty of cushion for the rest of the year
Feel insecure -> continue with what I was doing
Rewrite your code with Trigger-Action Plans (TAPs):
Find the best place to intervene
Goal: Improve my relationship with my mom
A current pattern:
mom brings up religion I get upset I argue with her
Possible new TAPs:
I get upset w/mom I take several deep breaths
mom brings up religion I change the subject
Find the best place to intervene
Goal: Get to work on time
A current pattern:
Alarm goes off I hit snooze several times
Possible new TAPs:
Alarm goes off Stand up and stretch
Notice I’m sleepy in the evening -> Go to bed
Example TAPs
• When I’m working on my laptop, I will sit up straight.
• Before dinner, I will meditate for 15 minutes
• At 9:00 every night, I will write in my journal
Good User Experience (UX) design
Good User Experience (UX) design
9:00 alarm -> Journaling
Good User Experience (UX) design
9:00 alarm -> Journaling
Be natural.
Good User Experience (UX) design
9:00 alarm -> Journaling
Be natural.
Wake up -> Run ten miles
Good User Experience (UX) design
9:00 alarm -> Journaling
Wake up -> Run five miles
Be natural.
Be easy.
Good User Experience (UX) design
9:00 alarm -> Journaling
Wake up -> Run five miles
Mom criticizes -> Calm myself
Be natural.
Be easy.
Good User Experience (UX) design
9:00 alarm -> Journaling
Wake up -> Run five miles
Mom criticizes -> Calm myself
Be natural.
Be easy.
Be unambiguous.
Debugging
Debugging
Try the pre-hindsight: Imagine this TAP fails. Why?
(Then you can patch the bugs pre-emptively)
Debugging
Two common patches:
1. TAP: I don’t want to -> I’ll do it anyway
2. TAP: Trigger -> Big Action
Trigger -> Baby step
A couple of my favorite TAPs
1. Notice a mistake -> Feel good for noticing
A couple of my favorite TAPs
1. Notice a mistake -> Feel good for noticing
2. Notice something went poorly -> Generate a TAP to fix problem in future
My Challenge:
Come up with at least one Trigger Action Plan today that will help you with some goal, big or small.
Debug it over the next few weeks, if it doesn’t work as well as you’d hoped.
“I’m sphexy and I know it.”
