The Paradox of Choice - Why More is Less
This Google Tech Talk was given by Barry Schwartz on April 27, 2006, and can be viewed here: The Paradox of Choice - Why More is Less.
In the lecture Schwartz starts by making two fundamental assertions that seems to govern society (at least a modern, western society) which are 1) more freedom means more welfare, and 2) more choice means more freedom (and for most, freedom and choice are two words for the same thing). So it follows that more choice means more welfare. He then proceeds to show that these two assertions are empirically false.
He do so in a very humorous way - too bad that Google didn’t want to show the cartoons he is using in his presentation (some of them even with permission). The title of the lecture provides a clue in itself - it’s “more is less”, not “less is more”. By that he means that no choice is the worst condition. Increasing the number of choices available, at first satisfaction rises sharply but quickly starts to level out. At the same time all the negative consequences start to accumulate, making people more miserable.
More choices can make people miserable because of regret: how can you possibly think you made the best choice when there’s so much to choose from? Anticipated regret: you’re so certain you’ll regret the choice that you just don’t make it at all. Opportunity costs: some features in a choice will be the best (based on your criteria) but other features will not. There’s a trade-off and even if you didn’t have a given feature as a priority, it will still nag you long after that you didn’t make the best choice when it comes to that feature.
One solution to the problem of facing a bewildering number of choices can be to use an agent. You may think he’s the expert on the subject, thus will make the best choice, and you’ll be content. In fact, as long as he’s just capable of making a reasonably choice, that’s usually good enough.
Another problem is capability vs. usability. Traditionally people go after capability, and in doing so gets a product that’s not as good when it comes to usability. And therefore they get a less satisfactory experience than the could have gotten.
In summary, a really great lecture, well worth watching.
Rating: 8 / 10.