BetterBeliefs is a research-backed social platform that:
- encourages users to generate numerous and diverse solutions
- prompts for different kinds of evidence to support or refute solutions
- invites users to evaluate the quality of evidence and
- scientifically calculates two kinds of metrics in the Evidence Engine for the quality of hypotheses based on how people engage
BetterBeliefs helps reduce cognitive biases that emerge when:
- there are too few solutions suggested
- ideas for how to solve problems are too similar or too conservative
- organisational or stakeholder knowledge is ignored, lost or under-utilised
- evidence is not comprehensive or is drawn from conforming teams and contexts
To use the platform, users first identify a problem space, issue or area for improvement. Then, they imagine possible solutions to this problem space and add them to the platform.
To add a hypothesis, users need some evidence (e.g. url, diagram, slides, argument) to support or refute the solution. Users do not need to strongly agree to a solution to add it. In fact, solutions can be:
- an idea a user is curious about; radical, unusual or ‘out there’ hypotheses
- a solution a user would like peer input and feedback on
- solutions users feel are poorly supported by evidence
Users can add hypotheses they believe in, but are not quite sure if they have enough evidence to action. Users can also add hypotheses that they have evidence for and against.
Once evidence and organisational belief for a solution reaches a critical threshold it is greenlit for action by decision-makers.