Published on <a href="http://ift.tt/2nFouCq">| Prototyping: From UX to Front End &mdash; Medium</a> Edgar Wang 
Denmark and Sweden. Netherlands and Belgium. We tend to perceive these countries as similar in terms of culture and religion, but there’s a shocking difference between them.
The levels of organ donation.
<img alt="" src="http://ift.tt/2nUx1Pv">Sweden: 85.9% vs Denmark: 4.25% donation rate. That’s a huge difference. (Taken from danariely.com)
Let’s look at Sweden vs Denmark. In Sweden, almost 9 out of 10 citizens donate their organs. In Denmark, less than 1 out of 20 citizens donate.
Are Swedish citizens just that much more altruistic? Or is there a more surprising answer to it all?
<h4>The Surprising Answer</h4>
Turns out, it’s simply the form at the DMV.
Dan Ariely, Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke, explains why the form matters.
<blockquote>In countries where the form is set as “opt-in” (check this box if you want to participate in the organ donation program) people do not check the box and as a consequence they do not become a part of the program.</blockquote>
<blockquote>In countries where the form is set as “opt-out” (check this box if you don’t want to participate in the organ donation program) people also do not check the box and are automatically enrolled in the program.</blockquote>
<blockquote>In both cases large proportions of people simply adopt the default option. (source <a href="http://ift.tt/1fjjnLA">danariely.com</a>)</blockquote>
He argues that since organ donation is a emotionally charged and nebulous decision, we have difficulty deciding the better option. So we simply adopt the default option.
The default option “nudges” our decision-making.
<h3>Does this really apply to my daily life?</h3>
You may ask yourself, how does this affect your daily life? Can small “nudges” influence you to make the better decision?
Let’s first define a nudge.
<blockquote>“A nudge, as we will use the term, is any aspect of the choice architecture that alters people’s behavior in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives. To count as a mere nudge, the intervention must be easy and cheap to avoid. Nudges are not mandates. Putting fruit at eye level counts as a nudge. Banning junk food does not.” (Thaler &amp; Sustein 2008, p. 6)</blockquote>
In short, it’s a way to make one decision more favorable than another.
So where in your daily life can you be affected by nudges? Here’s an example.
<h4>How nudges help you avoid eating junk food</h4>
<img alt="" src="http://ift.tt/2nLPu3C">Can I have your Doritos? No, this is NACHO Cheese.
It’s late at night. You’re kinda hungry. So you buy a whole bag of Doritos Nacho chips. You start eating, and they’re just so irresistible you somehow devour the entire bag.
Afterwards, you question your life decisions. Yes, you really did just eat 1500 calories worth of Doritos in less than an hour.
Nudge: You instead buy 5 bags of small Doritos chips. One of these babies has only 150 calories.
Now you’re kinda hungry so you open one bag and devour it. You’re still hungry so you rip open another bag. By the third bag, you’re feeling kinda guilty, so you stop. Only 450 calories consumed.
Why it works
By buying the smaller bags, you made it more difficult to eat Nacho Doritos endlessly. You had to actively rip open another bag to get more of that cheesy goodness. You “nudged” yourself to make the healthier decision.
(This is unfortunately speaking from experience so I know this to be true.)
<h4>Doritos aren’t the only way to apply nudges</h4>
It’s not just eating chips though.
For working out, it’s easier to go directly to the gym after work than return home and muster the energy to drive back to the gym.
For avoiding the snooze button in the mornings, it’s easier to place your alarm across the room than right next to your bed where you have easy snooze access.
Even more interesting, nudges are hidden in the technology we use.
<h3>How User Interfaces are hidden with Nudges</h3>
You may not actively notice it, but the technology we interact with is filled with nudges.
<img alt="" src="http://ift.tt/2nUxUHz">5, 4, 3, 2, 1 until more PewDiePie goodness.
YouTube’s autoplay feature makes it easy to binge watch by nudging you to watch another video.
Facebook’s countless notifications nudge you to open their app and discover exciting new posts.
Credit Cards nudge you to spend more money since you no longer need to rummage through your pocket for the perfect amount of change.
<h4>Snapchat Nudge Case Study</h4>
Here’s an example with data. Last March, Snapchat <a href="http://ift.tt/2dDDE8D">released its Auto Advance feature</a>. With Auto Advance, Snap Stories would automatically start playing in succession, so you could see your friend’s SnapStory and then Kim Kardashian’s.
<img alt="" src="http://ift.tt/2nLLvEu">I just can’t stop watching!
Automatic is the keyword here. With Auto Advance, you spent more effort X-ing out of the interface than watching the next video. There’s obviously a preferred action here.
So guess what happens when you remove the Auto Advance feature? In October of last year, SnapChat did remove it, and, unsurprisingly, view counts dropped.
Snapchat analytics platform Delmondo found that view counts dropped an average of 15%(<a href="http://ift.tt/2nabVN3">source</a>). That’s not an anomaly. It’s significant. Some users even experienced view count drops up to 35%.
More effort to watch more videos = fewer videos watched.
That’s how powerful a simple nudge can be.
<h3>So What’s the Takeaway?</h3>
When designing, make it easier for users to make the right choice, whatever you define right choice to be.
Mark Cuban says it best.
<blockquote>It was Aaron Spelling I believe who said that “TV is the path of least resistance from complete boredom”. Which is another way of saying that its easier to watch TV, than to sit there and do nothing.</blockquote>
<blockquote>Which describes exactly how people make most of their choices in life. They take the easy way. They take the path of least resistance. (<a href="http://ift.tt/2nqhoBc">link</a>)</blockquote>
So next time, ask yourself, can you change the environment to convince yourself and others to make the right decision?
<img src="http://ift.tt/2nUvrNx" width="1" height="1" alt="stat?event=post.clientViewed&amp;referrerSou">
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<a href="http://ift.tt/2nLWhdR">“Nudges”: How intelligent design persuades lazy users to do the right thing</a> was originally published in <a href="http://ift.tt/2cAqCpx">Prototyping: From UX to Front End</a> on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“Nudges”: How intelligent design persuades lazy users to do the right thing

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