Value Systems

Value Systems Thinking is our Cognitive Framework for understanding and designing customer experiences. Is assumes the customer story is a window into deeper Value Systems; unconscious psychological systems that appraise the value in every experience.. At its core, it is the practice of looking at the interconnected relationship between:

Instead of viewing these as separate data points, Value Systems Thinkings’ holistic approach allows businesses to stop just reacting to customer feedback and start architecting experiences that resonate with the whole person.

  • The WHY: A customer’s deep, underlying motivations (their Core Drives).
  • The HOW: The cognitive frameworks they use to understand the world (their Mental Models).
  • The WHAT: The specific topics and conversations that are top-of-mind for them (their Discourse).

🏗️ The Appraisal of Drives

🎙️ Core Drives, Intent & Empowerment

In this value system of our Cognitive Architecture framework, we model the Appraisal of Drives. We move beyond surface-level feedback to reveal how customers judge your world based on whether it fuels their progress or leaves them feeling stalled and frustrated in the pursuit of their goals.

Visualizing the First Appraisal: This visual reveals how 100 customer stories clustered based on their Latent Motives. The customers with each segment represent psychological proximity discovered by the data, representing different ways your customers seek to satisfy their core drives in your world.

🔍 How to Interpret the Strategic Agent Analysis:

To understand the “Drives” behind a segment, we look at the psychological heartbeat of their story:

  • The Internal Monologue: The Unspoken Truth. This is the latent “Inner Voice” that guides decision-making, surfacing the raw emotional reality behind the feedback.
  • Primary Goal & Obstructor: The latent “Win” the customer is hunting for and the specific “Wall” that stops them.
  • Key Differentiators & Quotes: The “Grit” in the story. These are the specific moments where a customer’s goal was either validated or obstructed.

🧠 The Appraisal of Flow

🎙️ Mental Models & Expectations

Behind every interaction is a Mental Model—a subconscious set of rules for how an experience should unfold. In this value system of our cognitive architecture framework we model the Appraisal of Flow. We look at whether your product’s process honors the user’s internal logic or if it violates the “unspoken contract” they’ve authored in their mind.

Mapping the Cognitive Path: This visual reveals how 100 customer stories clustered based on their shared expectations of the product journey.

🔍 How to Interpret the Appraisal of Flow

To understand why a user feels stuck, we break down their mental architecture into three parts:

  • The Core Belief: The fundamental truth the user holds about the product (e.g., “A printer should reliably perform its core function, provide adequate ink longevity, and clearly communicate its status without causing operational friction or unexpected outages.”). This is the foundation of their appraisal.
  • The Mental Script (Process): The step-by-step expectation of how the experience should go. We map the moment the script is “broken” by operational reality (e.g., “User expects consistent print quality and reasonable ink life→ Printer produces poor quality prints or runs out of ink unexpectedly”).
  • Top Rules: The specific “If/Then” laws the user uses to judge your fairness and logic (e.g., “Ink should last a reasonable time”).

🎨 The Appraisal of Appeal

🎙️ Aesthetics of Things

To quantify why a segment is “Attracted” or “Repulsed,” we audit the specific stimuli revealed in the Topic Fingerprint:

  • Structural Friction: We pinpoint the “Bottlenecks” in value—like inconsistent sizing or poor construction—that cause Net Repulsion.
  • Compensatory Gratification: We identify when users are trying to like a product despite its flaws (e.g., “I love the color, but the fit is terrible”).
  • Intrinsic Liking: The immediate, non-instrumental reaction to the object’s character. This is the “gut feel” that happens before a goal is even pursued.

🔍 How to Interpret the Appraisal of Appeal:

Top Drivers, Appraisals & Characteristics: The key Sensory Wins “Soft, comfortable, and lightweight fabrics” aren’t just features; they drive the overall impression of quality and comfort, creating the primary attraction point for the segment.

Forensic Audit: This segment represents a high-water mark for Resonance, anchored by a 3.42 QAS. The narrative establishes that the brand is successfully delivering on its “desirable and functional” promise, specifically through the delivery of adaptable and flattering wear that matches the user’s initial aesthetic intent.

Key Attributes (Object Characteristics): The audit identifies a successful alignment between the Object and the User’s Persona.

  • The Result: The garment functions as a versatile tool for the user’s identity, reinforcing trust in the product’s design intent.
  • The Stimulus: Stylish designs suitable for high-frequency, diverse occasions (Work, Casual, Evening).