Lost in Navigation: Overcoming the Paradox of Choice in UX Design
Insights from Psychology
Navigation design is a crucial component of the user experience that impacts how easily users can find information or perform actions on a website or app. There is, however, a catch: more choices don't always mean better decisions. This phenomenon is known as the "paradox of choice."
The Paradox of Choice
The paradox of choice originated from Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper's influential study in 2000. The researchers set up a booth where passersby could sample different jams. One group had 24 jams to choose from, while the other was presented with only 6 jams. While 60% of people stopped by the 24 jam table, only 40% stopped by the 6 jam table. However, only 30% of people exposed to 24 jams actually purchased jam afterward, while 60% purchased from the 6 jam table. This demonstrated that while people may be attracted to more choices initially, too many options can lead to choice overload and poorer decisions. This study suggests that providing too many options can actually decrease the likelihood of users making a decision and converting.
Additional studies have added more context on why and how choice overload occurs. According to a meta-analysis by Chernev et al (2015), factors like decision difficulty, preference uncertainty, and anticipated regret increased with more choices. This led to choice deferral, decreased satisfaction, and regret. Other research has pointed to how evaluating many options exhausts our cognitive resources and willpower, ultimately negatively affecting decision-making (Vohs et al., 2008).
A review by Scheibehenne et al.(2015) found that the effect of choice overload depends on a variety of factors, including the complexity of the decision, the individual’s decision-making style, and the context in which the decision is made.
Choice Paralysis in UX
Choice paralysis is the phenomenon where users, when presented with too many options, become overwhelmed and often struggle to make a decision. In UX, this could manifest in users spending excessive time on a page without performing any significant action or completely abandoning a task due to being overwhelmed with choices.
This concept further reinforces the importance of simplifying navigation options. When users are overloaded with choices in menus, settings, or even content consumption, they are likely to experience fatigue and reduced satisfaction (Oulasvirta et al., 2009). For example, streaming services, when presenting a vast array of movies or shows without efficient categorisation, can lead to users spending more time choosing than watching — sounds familiar?
Hick's Law and Navigation
The consequences of choice overload apply directly to navigation design. Hick's Law demonstrates that the time taken to make a decision increases with the number of choices available. The law is named after psychologist William Edmund Hick, who quantified the relationship between number of options (n) and decision time (T) as
In essence, each additional navigation option increases the cognitive effort needed to make a selection.
This translates to navigation design in several ways. More tabs or links in main site navigation demand higher cognitive processing to evaluate options. Nested navigation with multiple levels of flyout sub-menus also increases choice complexity. Even factors like the position, visual salience, and labelling of navigation options influences choice difficulty (Puccinelli et al., 2009). Without care, added navigation choices hamper findability instead of aiding it.
Strategies to Mitigate Choice Overload
There are a few ways we can reduce choice overload:
Simplify Navigation Architecture
Streamlining navigation architecture is a key way to reduce cognitive load. This includes limiting the main navigation tabs to only the most important 5-9 categories, avoiding nested submenus, and using flat hierarchies instead of deep multi-level structures. For example, a flat structure may have Shop, Support, About Us as main tabs instead of nesting shop categories. Progressive disclosure through expandable accordions or modal windows can reveal deeper options only when users need them.
An example of progressive disclosure is the Google advanced search; the primary search is simple and only has a few basic options but clicking on settings allows users to have more control over their search and get more granular results.
Improve Navigation Labels
Clear, descriptive labels help users predict what content lies behind each link, reducing the effort needed to evaluate options. Ambiguous terms like “Info” or “click here” or repetitive phrasing like “account status information” impair findability. Labels should use recognisable schemata and terminology from the user’s mental model. User testing and analytics can identify confusing labels to improve or replace (Roth et al., 2013).
Show Selective Navigation Links
Displaying all possible navigation options clutters the interface and distracts from critical paths. Analyse site usage data and surveys to selectively show only the most relevant or popular destinations in main menus. If certain user segments need access to more links, these can be served conditionally. For example, an admin navbar can appear for logged in editors.
Guide Users With Pre-Selections
Where appropriate, preselect a sensible default option rather than ask users to evaluate all choices from scratch each time. For example, e-commerce sites can default to showing best-selling or recommended products first before revealing additional filters and categories.
Add Breadcrumb Trails
Breadcrumbs below the main nav provide a secondary way-finding aid by showing the navigation path and page hierarchy. This reduces cognitive load as users don’t have to hold the full site structure in memory (Larson & Czerwinski, 1998). Breadcrumbs are especially helpful on deep pages or for disoriented users.
Offer Search Functionality
In apps and websites with extensive options and navigation, search is an effective feature to help users cut through the complexity. Rather than tediously sorting through overwhelming menus, search allows users to filter results to a more manageable subset relevant to the task at hand. With the ability to quickly query and explore the available selections, users can rapidly narrow down choices, find known items instantly, and compare fewer, better-matched options without having to memorise locations or hierarchies. Search gives users flexibility and control during the decision process, providing an alternative pathway that reduces the paralysing effect of choice overload. While search is not a cure-all, it can make a tangible difference in user experience when thoughtfully implemented alongside other strategies for simplifying complex digital environments.
Conduct User Research
Last but not least… user research is invaluable for guiding the optimisation of complex apps and websites to reduce choice paradox. By directly observing and interviewing target users, we can gain valuable insights into their motivations, pain points, and primary workflows. Research can help us pinpoint and fix the areas of navigation and options that cause the most confusion, and identify the best default options.