The Paradox of Choice – Why Less is Always More

by MarsDorian

You have heard the saying LESS IS MORE proably like a gazillion times. It seems bland, but the truth is – there’s an interesting secret behind those words that could literally change the way you treat your life and business.

Let me explain the paradox of choice with one of my favorite examples:

The fight of the century: Google VS. Yahoo

You know why Google kicked Yahoo’s ass in terms of market domination ?

Was it because Google’s algorithm was so much more epic in the beginning ?

NO.

The SOLE reason why Google BLEW YAHOO OUT OF THE WATER was because they were simple. Dead simple:

While Yahoo’s site bombarded your eyes with hundreds of different choices (links) that confused the heck out of every beginner, Google ONLY showed TWO:

SEARCH and I’M FEELING LUCKY.

Brilliant !!!

You know why ? Think about it: If you recommended a search engine to people that were not tech savy, which engine would you pick ? The insane link carnage a la Yahoo or the simpler-than-stupid Google site ?

EXACTAMENTE !

While most people were overwhelmed with Yahoo’s overkill choices, they felt comfortable with Google’s ultra-minimalist approach.

Here’s the paradox:

The MORE choices you offer to people, the LESS they are going to act on them.

Why ? You know the answer yourself:

If you want to go to the movie theatre, and it’s showing 5 great movies, what’s going to happen ?

First, you will need an eternity to pick one.

Your mind will say:

This one ? It has action and cool special effects. But the other one has Ben Stiller, and it’s going to be super-funny. But the other, other one is a kick-ass adventure flick with grrreat locations. Argggh !

And secondly, once you make up your mind and FINALLY pick one, you are going to regret it later. Your mind will say:

Shit, I should have watched the other one !

Now, let’s rewind to the beginning.

Imagine you had only two choices, movie A and movie B ?

What’s going to happen ?

First, you will have an easy time to pick one.The two movies will be different, and only one will appeal to your current mood (action or comedy ? Ah, I need some action in my life now !)

Once you make the choice, you will feel no remorse. Because even if you didn’t like the movie that, you will still justify your choice:

“Well, I was in the mood for an action flick. Didn’t really wanted comedy today !”

Do you think this is only true for picking movies ? Hell no.

This is true for every choice-making process in life:

when you ask for a opinion, give that person few choices. This makes it easier for them to decide. “Do you like this, or that ?” is easier answered than “ Do you like this, or that ? Or maybe that one over there, or the other one over here ?….or what about this one ? (baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang. Insert mind meltdown in here

When you offer your services, offer FEWER ones ! Don’t have a crazy 10 option program. Your potential client will feel overwhelmed, and ends up deciding for none of them !

When you offer a digital product, offer LESS versions. No bronze, gold, silver and platinum version. People who go for silver will think – shit, I should have gone for platinum. Offer the standard and premium one, and that’s it. People will either go for the basic one or cherish the super-dooper premium.

When you conduct a survey, don’t spam the audience with too many questions. Ask few, but POWERFUL ones and enjoy the increased interacton !

When you want people to social media share your post, don’t offer every fucking social media botten known to the internet ! I have seen this one blogger who had 30+ share icons. Who the hell is going to use them ?Ppeople will feel so scared that they drop the action altogether. You know what ? I had 4-5 share buttons in the beginning (email, Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Stumbleupon), and I have gotten rid of most them. Now, I only have 2 – Facebook “Like” and the Retweet button, and both – share rate and traffic have increased dramatically.

Always remember – if you want people to take MORE action, offer them LESS.

The less you choices you give them, the more likey they are going to use them, without regretting them later.

If you want to impact the world more awesomely (she needs YOU after all), start by being more simple. Hack away most of your choices, and only concentrate on the few ones that actually matter.

Less is more.

I had GRREAT experiences with this method so far. Tell me what you think !

And please share this post with your friends !

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Tagged as: choices, marketing, simplicity

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Murray Lunn

Exactly Mars, analysis paralysis.

You hit people with new offers, tons of ads, a long list of crap to read through and take action on and people just freeze – they find it easier to walk away than to make a decision.

Focusing in on one or two items will allow you to really craft these messages so it speaks to the person instead of trying to reach EVERYONE.

http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

exactly, Murray !

It has taken me a LONG LONG LONG time to figure that one out, but now that I do, it's been a blessing in my life !!

http://twitter.com/TheChaseNight Chase Night

This is so true. My blog host has only one option for a share button that LOOKS simple, but then you click and it has like 100 possible ways to share. I hate it. If I were my readers I'd be overwhelmed by it too, but it won't let me tweak it. Hence, getting a new host in the near future that lets me do things the simple way.

Also, amen to the multiple versions of a product. I feel frantic enough when I see two versions of something, much less 3 or 4.

http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

Hey Chase,

that sucks – you can't change your share buttons ? What does your host interfere with your blog functionality, that's insane !

Simplicity is the way to go, if you want people to take action. Better find a way to solve that one quickly, man :)

http://www.justinhamlin.com Justin Hamlin

The Yahoo vs. Google is perfect.

Another reason you know that Google made the right choice, look at Microsoft's response. They launched http://www.live.com. What is live.com? A simple search bar with a few little factoids if you mouse over them, and a picture. Not 500 links, hell, not even an “I'm Feeling Lucky” button.

Your message, while all of us will act like we already knew this, are smacking ourselves for committing the very same transgressions such as offering 312 sharing options.

Thanks again for stating the blatantly obvious in a comprehensive way. :)

http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

Hey Justin,

yeah, it's a known lesson, but I have forgotten it so many times I wrote this post to remind myself. Simplicity is the way to go. Concentrating all the energies (or your audience's attention) to few parts in order to have maximum impact !

http://twitter.com/mikegrayton Mike Grayton

One of those points that it is very easy to forget in our age of more… more choices, more stuff, more friends, more things to do… less TIME!

Help everyone out by giving them fewer choices, not only does it help your response rate, but you're really helping them out by giving them back some time!!

Great post Mars.

http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

Never thought of THAT aspect, Mike, but that's true, and another GRREAT reason why I'll keep things simple.
Thanx !

http://twitter.com/thelifething Jonny Gibaud

Fun fact: The simplicity of Google's interface wasn't initially planned. It was simple because Larry and Sergy didn't know how to code anything more complex – nuts right?

http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

Crazy Jonny,
didn't know that. Looks like it pays to be clueless a times ;)

MerryMakes

Offering fewer choices is a great parenting skill, too. If you ask your child what he would like for dinner, chances are it’ll be well past dinnertime when he’s finally decided, you’ve got the ingredients together, cooked it and sat down to eat it. I’ve always found it effective to ask my children: would you like ‘this’ or ‘that’? for pretty much any situation. I get a quick answer and children learn to be decisive. WIN/WIN all around :)

http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

tricky tricky :)

But it's true – it's all about psychology. People tend to thing ONLY about the options you give to them !

http://www.optimisticwellness.com Josh Lipovetsky

I just finished reading your article, and I immediately removed most of my social networking buttons. Now, I only have a twitter, facebook, and stumbleupon button. Great point with the Yahoo and Google illustration.

While I was reading this post, I thought of my local deli. Their menu is HUGE. I literally think they have 100-200 different choices, and basically unlimited combinations/side dishes from there. Every time I go out to eat there, I have to research their menu online, and figure out what I want. (Yes, I like to look at restaurant menus online. It eliminates order anxiety. Serious problem, you know.) :)

If they had 10-20 options, their business would definitely be more efficient.

Thanks a lot,
Josh Lipovetsky.

http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

Awesome Josh,

100 extra points for the fast action.
And about the Deli – I SOO believe that they would improve their business by offering WAY LESS options. 100 – 200 choices ? That's crazy – and it would probably take me an hour to pick one meal :)

http://www.jessilicious.com Jess Webb

Well said, Mars!

This is sooo true. And Google is one of my favorite examples of this! :)

This was a good reminder for me to offer less – even though I know this, I still have a tendency to try and do too much. ;) I'm going to look at how I can cut back on some of those things – offer less packages/services, have less links on my main page, etc. I know there are several areas where I can put this into action right away! :)

http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

Awesome Jess,
it's a constant process – I'm still trying to find ways to simplify my life and online biz. But the effect on my life and on people is tremendous !

http://twitter.com/joshuamillburn the minimalists

Another great post, Mars. So glad we found your site.

Love the Google Yahoo analogy too. That paints the perfect picture.

We made our site as simple as possible at launch. And we'll continue to pare it down as much as we can (without losing functionality).

Take care,

Joshua & Ryan
http://theminialists.com

http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

I think you MUST especially, since it's part of your branding :)

joshuanoerr

When you only offer 2 product choices, you actually use the fact that most people have a decision making disorder to your own advantage.

This also applies to distribution points if you have a shippable, hard good as your product. Less here is still more.
http://www.sensophy.com Jacob Sokol

I digs it dude – dopeness!
http://www.whereisjenny.com Jenny

Less is more is one of the first lessons you learn in design and branding. It applies to so many other facets of life as well.

Another good example of “less is more” is In n Out Burger… they don't have a gazillion options like most fast food joints they have fries, burger, and shake/soft drinks. They don't have 10 different combinations of burgers either, just one (but you can add as many meat patties as you want though making it a double, triple, or quad)… People line up out the door for these burgers. It also doesn't help that all the food is fresh and never frozen. Do you ever see people line up out the door for a McDonald's burger? um no.

Crazy how a few small changes can be the difference between people just liking a place or being absolutely crazy about it!

http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

Hey Jenny,

that is a kick-ass branding example. I don't know the burger brand you are talking about ( don't think we have it in Europe…yet!)

But what you say sounds incredible…offering way LESS and then making the stuff fresh as well. Sounds yummy to me :)

http://www.whereisjenny.com Jenny

In and Out Burger is only in select areas in the West Coast United States, right now. They have a bazillion raving fans though. If you wear one of their t-shirts, especially in a state that does not have the restaurant, expect several people to come up to you and tell you how much they love/miss/want their burgers. Crazy.

Lori

I agree with you on this! Additionally, when there are a lot of bonus offers with the purchase of a book, I tend to not even buy they book because I'm thinking; “I'll never have time to go through all those bonuses!”

http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

yeah, it can be a bonus overkill. Always cringe inside when I see more than 3 bonus options ;(

http://www.ryanrenfrew.com Ryan Renfrew

What uuuup Mars?

Yes mate, great insight here. I think keeping it simple does wonders for the ole sanity too. Less to concern ourselves with and allows us to focus on the few essentials and not a broad smorgesboard of indifferent actions.

bLAZE yOUR tRAIL
http://twitter.com/JaviMunozDiaz Javi Muñoz

Great, Mars! These days I'm thinking about how many pages I might add to one of my sites and you remembered me the right way.

Thanks
http://www.upgradereality.com Diggy

Hey Mars!

Cool post and I totally agree, that is why I really love Zenhabits' blog theme so much. There are no distractions, only content! Awesome!

Cheers
Diggy
http://blog.esimplestudios.com Gabriele Maidecchi

Limiting the offers and piloting them is a key aspect in business, even if it sounds rough to say.
But let's face it, we all have at least one personal experience on that, be it from the client or from the business side.
http://www.prolificliving.com/blog Farnoosh

Brilliant – how are you so smart and so young, dear Mars? :) I loved this post. I think you have covered one of the most essential elements in marketing, sales, and human psychology – Thank you so much!

http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

pure trial and error, Farnoosh :)

http://www.miss-britt.com Miss Britt

Fantastic post!
http://www.thepracticalnerd.com Tom Meitner

Mars, I like this one alot. When I worked on freelancing, there was always that “generality vs specialty” argument that went back and forth. It's a lot easier to market your services when you are just marketing yourself as one thing instead of “I can do ____ and ____ and ____ and ____….” Then you're known as the “Case Studies Guy” instead of another generic writer that called/emailed/whatever. You should send this letter over to Microsoft to teach them a thing or two. :-)

http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

Hey Tom,

that's a good argument – if you just feature what you can do, you will be compared to everyone else. The goal is to simply sum up your “brand” message into a single phrase that HITS the jackpot.

http://hypno.co.nz/blogs Mike Reeves-McMillan

If you ever watch Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, one of the first things he usually does when he's helping an unprofitable restaurant is reduce the size of their menu. Easier on the staff as well as better for the customers – the restaurant can do six dishes well or 60 dishes badly.

This reminds me, I just added a new course to my blog sidebar, so I need to remove one of the old ones.

http://www.marsdorian.com/ Mars Dorian

Hey Mike – I have heard of that before. It's true – better to master a few than to be terrible at many – this counts for anything in life !
And good choice with your product – clear out the old stuff and make space for the new ! Only have the most important stuff on your blog, everything else is clutter that needs to be taken care of !