Contrary to what we would think, Iyengar’s study actually shows
that people are less likely to consume when given too many choices (Iyengar, 2011). In her TedTalk she tells us about four
different methodologies that can help us improve our experience of choosing. She proposes Cut, Concretization,
Categorization, and Condition for Complexity.
Cut is the concept that less is more.
The less choices the more people will actually spend. Iyengar explains that too many choices can
seem overwhelming, she tells us “we can't
actually do the math of comparing and contrasting and
actually picking…” (Iyengar, 2011). Concretization is being able to not only see
the differences between all the choices but also realistically understand and
perceive the consequences of these choices. Categorization is the idea that
it’s easier to choose when there are many categories as opposed to many choices. The last technique is Condition for
Complexity. The idea here is that we can
handle a lot of information but it needs to be bite size and given to us
incrementally from easier to more complex.
I definitely have to agree
with Iyengar when she tells us that less is more. I personally feel extremely overwhelmed when
given too many choices. An excellent
example of this is when I go to restaurants to have a short and concise menu
and one that is a 10 page book of food choices.
I have a harder time deciding what to eat and end up ordering something
that isn’t satisfying or choosing something that I don’t even like. One of my favorite restaurants is an Italian
restaurant that has a two page menu with only about 10 items. Then they offer a few different specials each
night. My dining experience at this
place is always optimal and satisfying.
One would say that it would get boring eating at this restaurant yet I
find the experience to be novel and amazing every time.
Another technique that I feel
assists me in choosing easier and better is Condition for Complexity. I love to shop at Zappo’s for athletic shoes. One of the main reasons is because of how
well they filter the shopping experience.
There have been some shopping sites that I have used that just offer you
the different name brands. You then have
to sift through pages and pages of Nikes, or New Balance trying to find the
shoe that fits your needs. I remember
always feeling extremely overwhelmed by this process and then having to
navigate to a secondary page to make comparisons. The entire experience was
cumbersome and confusing and most often I would not make a purchase with the
idea that I would look at the site another day.
Zappo’s on the other hand conditions for complexity. One way is their many filters. When you shop on Zappo’s for shoes you filter
first by gender then by size. Then you
can filter to choose by type (running, hiking, cross-training, etc.) and then
by brand. Finally you can filter down to
style and color. This is a prime example
of taking something that has a plethora of choices and simplifying the process
into bite-size decisions that I have to make.
References
No comments:
Post a Comment