FACT OF LIFE #2:
June 14, 2001
We don't make optimal choices. We satisfice.
When we're designing pages, we tend to assume that users will scan the
page, consider all of the available options, and choose the best one.
In reality, though, most of the time we don't choose the best
option-we choose the first reasonable option, a strategy known as
satisfying.
2 As soon as we find a link that seems like it might lead
to what we're looking for, there's a very good chance that we'll click it.
I'd observed this behavior for years, but its significance wasn't
really clear to me until I read Gary Klein's book Sources of Power:
How People Make Decisions.
3 Klein has spent 15 years studying
naturalistic decision making: how people like firefighters, pilots,
chessmasters, and nuclear power plant operators make high-stakes
decisions in real settings with time pressure, vague goals, limited
information, and changing conditions.
Klein's team of observers went into their first study (of field
commanders at fire scenes) with the generally accepted model of
rational decision making: Faced with a problem, a person gathers
information, identifies the possible solutions, and chooses the best
one. They started with the hypothesis that because of the high stakes
and extreme time pressure, fire captains would be able to compare only
two options, an assumption they thought was conservative. As it turned
out, the fire commanders didn't compare any options. They took the first
reasonable plan that came to mind and did a quick mental test for
problems. If they didn't find any, they had their plan of action.
So why don't Web users look for the best choice?
- We're usually in a hurry. And as Klein points out,
"Optimizing is hard, and it takes a long time. Satisficing is more
efficient."
- There's not much of a penalty for guessing wrong.
Unlike firefighting, the penalty for guessing wrong on a Web site
is usually only a click or two of the Back button, making satisficing
an effective strategy. Of course, this assumes that pages load quickly;
when they don't, we have to make our choices more carefully-just one
of the many reasons why most Web users don't like slow-loading pages.
- Weighing options may not improve our chances. On poorly
designed sites, putting effort into making the best choice doesn't
really help. You're usually better off going with your first guess and
using the Back button if it doesn't work out.
- Guessing is more fun. It's less work than weighing options,
and if you guess right, it's faster. And it introduces an element of
chance-the pleasant possibility of running into something surprising
and good.
Of course, this is not to say that users never weigh options before
they click. It depends on things like their frame of mind, how pressed
they are for time, and how much confidence they have in the site.
2. Economist Herbert Simon coined the term (a cross between satisfying and sufficing) in
Models of Man: Social and Rational (Wiley,m 1957).
3. The MIT Press, 1998
FACT OF LIFE #1:
Don't Make Me Think! A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability
FACT OF LIFE #3:
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