Satisficing

Don’t make me think.

It’s a standard approach in the web design world, and for good reason. Steve Krug’s original book (albeit with some very outdated examples of some blocky mid 2000 era websites) is a classic text for anyone interested in a higher level overview of web usability. 

There is some great terminology used in the book, of which my pick has to be “satisfice”.

As Steve himself puts it, when it comes to using the web, we don’t always make optimal choices. We Satisfice.

The term itself was coined by Economist Herbert Simon and is a cross between satisfying and sufficing.

Some of the key reasons for satisficing according to Krug:

• We’re usually in a hurry.
• There’s not much of a penalty for guessing wrong (that’s what the back button is for)
• Weighing options may not improve our chances.

This is worth a moment’s thought when it comes to how your customers will interact with your site.

Or – how they won’t. Simply put if the answer isn’t plain and simple, you’re wasting valuable time making your customers choose their own adventure.

A good rule of thumb, from eBay auctions to engineering sites, is to help them reach that goal (whatever it is) as quick as possible. 

Keep the line they have to walk to get to that goal as short as possible.

Failing that, keep them on the path – nothing says “you’re almost there” like a real tangible understanding of how far through the process you are.

Next time you’re adding that extra obstacle to your site, be it a mountain of text, a confusing registration process or extra information you’re asking for (but may not use!)

Stop and check out Steve Krug – Don’t Make Me Think. It’s a great read.