Mental Models: Limited Choice

WE ARE MORE LIKELY TO MAKE A CHOICE WHEN THERE RAE FEWER OPTIONS.

How might this apply to great teams and cultures?

The most common way of confusing someone is to overload them with too many choices. They will eventually crack, and avoid deciding at all. This approach is especially effective if what you are saying is of interest and makes them think and want to respond. Overload is multiplied when what is being communicated is complex or difficult to understand. This effectively shortens the time to the point where the other person becomes overloaded and needs to stop and process the information given to them.

How might this apply to your business?

For each page or state of your site, feature in your product or level of your service, how many choices do you offer? Can this be reduced?

Also, consider the sequence of decision points people encounter—can you simplify this decision path, presenting the more pressing choices first?

Consider

There are many written and unwritten rules of conversation and interpersonal communication. People expect you to follow those rules. If you break them, they will quickly become confused.

See Also

Status Quo Bias, Scarcity, Limited Duration, Contrast, Sequencing

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In the whirl of our day-to-day interactions, it’s all too easy to forget the nuances that distinguish great teams, great cultures, and great products/services.

Mental Model Flash Cards bring together insights from psychology into an easy reference and brainstorming tool. Each card describes one insight into human behavior and suggests ways to apply this to your teams as well as the design of your products and services.