The Architecture
Right, so we understand that having endless choice is not as much of a good thing as we imagine it to be.
We can extend this argument to say that having more choice is actually more beneficial to the presenter of the choices than the consumer.
A simple example of this is when back in 2017 Facebook went from a single “Like” button to 6 “Reactions” to a post. It gave us(the users) more choice, but in turn that helped its algorithms better profile the kind of person we are and use that to serve us more effective ads on its platforms.
Attention is the currency of the internet age.
When we interact with any digital product, we are spending that currency within the framework of choices that the creator has created for us.
This framework of choices is called Choice Architecture in Behavior Science.
When you read this newsletter every week you spend your attention on the choice architecture we have created for you. We act as choice architects here.
When you scroll through your endless social media feeds everyday, you spend your attention on the choice architecture an algorithm has curated for you.
You should care deeply about the motives of both kinds of choice architects.
Farnam Street goes deeper into choice architecture and architects in this blog post. They also explain the models we can use to better understand our choices and make better decisions overall.
Most importantly, they emphasize that we should choose our choice architects very carefully.
Checkout the article —
Choosing your Choice Architect(ure) | FarnamStreet
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