Swaying the decision tree
An exploration in understanding and solving Choice Paralysis
Do you know what it’s like to have a shelf full of toothpaste that you hate using?
Every morning, I dread brushing my teeth because I’ll only be left with an unpleasant taste that is similar to how I’d imagine what sun tanning lotion tastes like mixed with a few minute leaves to really give it some zest.
I had to painstakingly perform mental gymnastics to go with what I’d categorize as one of my worst decisions yet.
I began filtering my options down based on flavor. Seems solid. How bad could it be, right?
False. I was terribly wrong.
I won’t be happy brushing my teeth for the next 3 months until this awful toothpaste is gone. That’s just at least 270 more times I have to deal with it.
All because making a choice on toothpaste was daunting.
Everyone loves the idea of having endless possibilities and choices, even if they’re theoretical. Intuitively, we would often choose to have a list of five options over a list with two options. However, this assumption leads of indecision — the more options we have, the likelihood of us choosing a decision decreases significantly.
We do not have the ability to effectively compare no more than five options without significant cognitive load. So when given just two options, you have a 50% chance of choosing the right one. Once you’re presented with five options, your chances of choosing the right one decrease to 20%. Imagine the complexity of your mental decision tree with twenty options!
Sway the decision tree
So you’ve observed that your users are having difficulty in making a choice. That’s ok. This is your chance to lend a hand and help recommend an offering.
For those of you who are not familiar with Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, contestants were granted Lifelines to help them make a decision, but in their case — to choose the right answer and progress further into the game.
Now, put your users in the same shoes as the contestant who is completely stumped. Choosing the wrong answer could literally cost them hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. I know this sounds exaggerated, but remember the last time you made a choice that cost you either time or money, or both. Its pretty frustrating to say the least.
the more options we have, the likelihood of us choosing a decision decreases significantly.
Social Proof & Recommendations
Think of the last time you watched a show or movie on Netflix based on your friend’s epic recommendation. It happens quite a lot.
Word of Mouth is considered the most valuable kind of marketing out there. 84% of consumers value recommendations from friends and family over all other forms of marketing. (Nielson, Under the Influence: Consumer Trust in Advertising)
Comparisons
I know our product is great and we want to show-off our feature set to the world, but when that becomes more of a burden its time to reevaluate. When communicating comparative data, communicate the differences rather than the similarities. Rather than making it a burden to comprehend the feature sets similarities for product offerings, make things easier.
When communicating comparative data, communicate the differences rather than the similarities.
One-size Does Not Always Fit All
Sometimes we offer pricing based on volume, usage, or consumption which complicates the normal pricing scheme. Communicating this complex pricing strategy can be simplified in many ways.
Heroku communicates their more advanced product offering by allowing the customer to use a pricing calculator to quickly and easily understand the costs.
As a user manipulates each of the three sliders to their liking, the ‘Estimated monthly cost’ also updates in real-time.
The internal dialogue that usually occurs in one’s mind when making a budget-conscious decision happens much more rapidly because of the tool’s real-time feedback.
The pricing calculator’s value is allowing me to make my decision much more easily and in less time.
Budget-Conscious
There are quite a few of us who are very budget conscious when making decisions. Consider those who have to keep finances and budgets in check or those who approve purchases.
“[…] my mind on my money and my money on my mind” — Snoop Dog
Do you offer price breaks for paying annually instead of monthly? Communicate the savings, and you’ll grab the interest of budget-conscious individuals.
Of course there are many more ways we can help reduce friction when it comes to making decisions. Also, not every method works best for every situation.
Exploring and validating various methods to discover what works best for your situation is always the better way to go.
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