Simplicity

The Cognitive Load Problem Imagine walking into a restaurant, starving. They hand you a 50-page menu with no pictures. Do you feel liberated? No. You feel stressed. You scan it anxiously, terrified of picking the wrong thing, and eventually just order a burger because it’s safe. Now imagine a restaurant with a menu that has just three items: Steak, Fish, or Vegetarian. You decide in 10 seconds and feel confident. ...

The Paralysis of Abundance We live in a world of abundance. Walk down the cereal aisle, and you face 50 options. Open Netflix, and you have 5,000 movies. Logic suggests that more options increase the likelihood of finding the “perfect fit.” Psychology proves the opposite: More options increase anxiety. Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice, argues that as options increase, two things happen: Analysis Paralysis: It becomes harder to choose. ...