Book review – The Paradox of Choice

It’s ironic that I’m writing about this book considering there are already boatloads of reviews on other UX-related blogs. So I’m late to the party on this. It isn’t meant to be an in-depth analysis, but reading this has given me food for thought when it comes to designing.

This is not a book about UX design, but it certainly has some takeaway points. Schwartz isn’t advocating for no choice at all, but anyone who’s gone shopping for something as simple as a bottle of shampoo realizes that having too many choices can be just as oppressive. As designers, we need to be aware that there are numerous other aspects of a user’s life that require hefty thought – this shouldn’t be the case when it comes to visiting a website, as Steven Krug would say. If anything, Schwartz’s idea of making decisions irreversible is one that can’t be fully applied to interfaces, websites, etc. Surely we’re glad that we can remove an item from our shopping cart when we feel the need to. On the other hand, it’s nice to go to a website that doesn’t have a laundry list of links to scroll through and click on, or be able to pick and choose what icons we want to appear on the screen (if any) when we boot up a device.

We need to give users meaningful choices, even though Schwartz rightfully points out that “we don’t always know what we want.” (51) Nevertheless, we should try to strike a balance between a user being boxed into an option that may not be what they need or want, and having free reign to choose whatever, which may make the user not choose anything at all. The biggest point that really stood out to me was “Don’t be tempted by ‘new and improved.’” (228) If there’s a pet peeve I have about design it’s innovation for its own sake. Keep interfaces simple and consistent (I’m looking at you, Microsoft!)

Next review to come – Subject to Change by Peter Merholz. I’m sure there’s a ton of reviews already, but I’m writing one anyway. Because I can.