It is said that we make our decision with 80% emotion and 20% logic. That is fine and dandy most of the time, but sometimes we are faced with big issues in our lives that require more logic than emotion. Questions like ... should we hire a geriatric care manager? Which health insurance is right for me? How do I communicate my final wishes to other family members? Decisions like these have serious consequences. On the other hand, the "right" decision may go against your emotions.
Ok, so what? Just seek the advice of family, a trusted friend, or even a local professional. Problem solved. Yet a new website, Decision Street, is hoping that you will use their decision-making technology available online to make these decisions. Really.
Before (or after) you scoff at the idea and scorn me for even mentioning it, allow me to give you the background story.
I'll quote an article from Forbes magazine,
In 2003 Dr. Laura Carstensen, director of the Stanford Center on Longevity, coined the term "the positivity effect," a phenomenon that describes how people focus more on positive than negative information in old age. We are, it turns out, inclined to get happier--or at least focus on that which will make us more content--as we close in on death. Much of her recent work at Stanford University has debunked stereotypes about how older people are uniformly slow, cranky and mentally impaired. But the positivity effect has drawbacks: Older people often ignore crucial but nettlesome details or fall prey to scammers selling the moon.
... in light of the positivity effect, there was a way to help older people make better decisions about health care. In a study last year with Carstensen, she asked two 60-participant groups, one under 39 and one over 62, to review and choose among four health care plans. All the plans had pros and cons. The older participants repeatedly ignored the negative aspects when asked to choose, but the younger group reviewed both the good and bad. When the researchers reminded the older cohort to focus on accuracy, they paid more attention to the negative options.
(By the way, the Stanford Center on Longevity is probably the most prominent and prestigious center on aging research.)
Based on this finding, the founder from Decision Street worked with Stanford Center on Longevity to develop a process to walk senior users through a set of questions to help them make emotion-free decisions about elder care, end-of-life care, and other matters.
Furthermore, questions on Decision Street are developed along with top-notch experts in their particular fields. For example, the expert for end-of-life care is a priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse, Marie Ward Doty Professor of Aging Studies, Emeritus at Fordham University, and a Program Officer of the Milbank Memorial Fund. I doubt anyone can find a local professional who's more knowledgeable than he is on that topic.
Lastly and perhaps most importantly, Decision Street is not another question and answer website. Actually, there is no "answer" to any of the questions listed. The website uses an algorithm incorporating the math, science, and psychology of decision-making (the founder does have a PhD from Stanford on decision analysis) to help you make your decision. That is much the same way as a professional would give advice, in that they would talk to you and help you come up with a decision that's suitable for you. The difference here is that the expert doesn't talk to you directly. Instead she/he inputs all her/his needed knowledge for the question into the computer first. Then the computer program serves as the intermediary to guide you through the same decision making process as if the expert were there with you.
Frankly, I was skeptical at first. But now I think this is a great concept. My change in perception is not because of the website's pedigree. My change in opinion is because I gave it a try, and the result was convincing. The decision process it led me through seemed very professional. The survey questions and feedback seemed intelligent. Additionally, as complicated as it might seem, the website is fairly easy to use. For any particular question, the decision making process on Decision Street would take less time than reading this article.
Don't get your hopes up, though; Decision Street is still in beta stage, meaning they're still in development. There are a very limited number of topics available, and there seems to be much work to be done. Furthermore, I think they are selling themselves short. I had to spend two hours on research to dig up all the background information I mentioned. For a new visitor to their site, there really isn't much incentive to give them a try because most would just scoff at the unconventional idea.
Well, it's still in beta, right? Let's hope they are able to polish the user experience and increase its perceived value. Until then, we'll just have to make our decisions the old fashioned way.
