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Decision Architecture

How the shape of a choice decides it before you do.

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    Decision Architecture Entry #0132

    Why removing an option can raise sales of the rest

    Retailers who cut the number of near-identical lines have seen sales hold or rise. Removing duplicates removes comparisons rather than choices.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0132

    Duplicates add comparison, not choice. Perceived variety comes from favourites present, not from lines counted.

    Open file
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    Decision Architecture Entry #0131

    The reason you decide differently before and after lunch

    Across a long session of similar decisions, the safe default is chosen more often as the session goes on. Why that happens is still argued about.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0131

    Position in the queue is an unrecorded input. Effort-saving accumulates across a session while each case still gets a full justification.

    Open file
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    Decision Architecture Entry #0127

    The reason a menu with two pages sells more than one with six

    More options look generous until the person choosing them stops choosing. The tipping point between variety and paralysis is lower than most menus assume.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0127

    Abundance converts into postponement. The menu that offers everything sells whichever item asks the least of the reader.

    Open file
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    Decision Architecture Entry #0138

    Why adding a third tier sells the second

    The expensive option is not there to be bought. It is there to change what the middle option looks like, and it does that job without ever being chosen.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0138

    The premium tier nobody buys is not a failure. It is the instrument that decides what the tier below it appears to cost.

    Open file
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    Decision Architecture Entry #0126

    Why the default option decides more than the argument

    Whoever chooses what happens when nobody chooses has more influence than everyone who argued. Defaults are the quietest form of authority there is.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0126

    A default is not an absence of a decision. It is a decision made in advance, by somebody else, for everyone who does not intervene.

    Open file
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    Decision Architecture Entry #0136

    Why a decision made by committee has no author

    Nobody on the committee would have chosen this option alone. Together they chose it and none of them can say when.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0136

    A committee decision has a vote count but no signature. The structure that pools wisdom also distributes blame.

    Open file
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    Decision Architecture Entry #0135

    The reason irreversible choices feel better afterwards

    An option that cannot be returned is rated higher than the same option with a return window. The closed door is doing the work.

    Master
    The hidden part #0135

    A closed door stops the comparison loop. The mind then makes the best of what it has, and it is good at this.

    Open file
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    Decision Architecture Entry #0134

    Why the second question on a survey is the real one

    The opening question sets a frame. Every answer that follows is given inside it, and the respondent cannot see the frame because they are standing in it.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0134

    The first question is not a question. It is the frame in which the second question will be understood.

    Open file
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    Decision Architecture Entry #0130

    Why splitting a choice into steps changes the outcome

    The same decision, taken in one pass or in four, produces different answers. Each completed step becomes the reference point for the next one.

    Master
    The hidden part #0130

    Sequence sets the reference points. A decision split into steps is a decision compared against itself rather than against a budget.

    Open file
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    Decision Architecture Entry #0129

    The reason opt-out consent produces near-total participation

    Switching a form from tick-to-join to tick-to-leave can move participation from a minority to almost everyone. The preference did not move; the effort did.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0129

    A default is not a starting point but a recommendation with friction attached. Most people accept both without noticing either.

    Open file
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    Decision Architecture Entry #0128

    Why the order of questions changes the answers

    Ask about happiness first and then about politics, or reverse the order: the same person gives different answers to the same questions.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0128

    Earlier answers become context for later ones. A survey does not measure opinion; it measures opinion in the order the surveyor chose.

    Open file
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    Decision Architecture Entry #0142

    Why a signature at the top beats one at the bottom

    A signature at the end certifies statements already written. A signature at the start makes honesty salient while there is still something to be honest about.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0142

    An oath taken after the answers can only confirm them. Taken before, it is present while the answers are still being decided.

    Open file