The power of social proof and form design
The aim of this post is to share one bit of research that you can apply to creating a better online experience
Research: Goldstein, Cialdini and Griskevicus (2008) conducted a study to investigate whether they could increase compliance to a towel re-use program in a hotel
They compared two approaches;
- A message which focused on the importance of environmental protection
- A message which informed guests that most other guests (75%) participated in the program.
What they found: People who read the second message reused their towels more than those who read the first message!
This suggests that we use other people’s behaviour to guide our decision making process, especially when we are uncertain about how to behave
Application: Apply this to form design. For example, if people are getting stuck on a text fill response on your form include something like “Most people generally write two sentences here” — it might just work!
Follow the UX and Psychology Community @uxandpsych — sharing research on what makes people tick to create better online experiences.
