The IKEA effect is how we overvalue things we partly built ourselves — the labour we invest makes the result feel worth more than it objectively is. Examples:
What is the ikea effect? Read the full idea →You love the slightly wobbly shelf more than a sturdier store-bought one, because you built it.
Sales rose when mixes required adding an egg — the small effort made it feel 'yours.'
A strategy you helped create feels obviously right; an equally good one handed to you doesn't.
The meal you made tastes better to you for the effort, regardless of the result.
Teams overrate the thing they slaved over, which makes it painful to scrap (see also sunk cost).
That's just how memory works. Lock the ikea effect in with a 5-minute active-recall session — spaced repetition, no signup.
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