Believing you’re invisible is a dangerous practice.

In 1995, McArthur Wheeler robbed two banks in Greater Pittsburgh.

He wore no mask or disguise.

Instead he smeared his face with lemon juice, convinced it would make him invisible to security cameras.

He even smiled for the cameras.

Minutes after surveillance video aired, police arrested him.

When shown the tape, Wheeler reportedly exclaimed: “But I wore the juice!”

Psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger heard about the case. It became part of their inspiration for the 1999 study “Unskilled and Unaware of It.” 

They found that people who perform worst on tasks misjudge their performance the most, often hugely overestimating how good they are.

Overconfidence can be more dangerous than incompetence.

If your customers or team misunderstand their own gaps in product knowledge, design, usability, or market insight, they can make decisions that feel certain but are built on shaky ground.

Sometimes those choices will look absurd in hindsight.

But in the moment, the decision-makers are blind to that context.

Build feedback loops early.

Make blind spots visible before launch.

Test what people believe and say versus what they DO.

Want to make your product irresistible? That’s what we do as product marketing consultants at Graphos Product, helping innovators turn need-driven ideas into market-ready successes.