Eddie Osmani: The Paralysis of Choice
This is a translation of the “Front-end Choice Paralysis” post by Addy Osmani, published on July 1, 2014.
In front-end development, we are constantly faced with such a problem as an abundance of choices. We see an abundance of tools, frameworks, languages, abstractions and platforms. Such a choice is certainly good for competition and further development, however, when faced with so many options, you can fall into a stupor. Instead of making your choice, you feel abandoned, with a sense of uncertainty in front of a huge pile of options. This is not necessarily the problem of the front-end industry - this is the problem of human nature.
Take a simple example - let's say we want to watch a movie on Netflix.
A week ago I wanted to watch a movie there. I stole a couple of hours from me, which I thought would be enough to select and view something.
')
But I did not even think that some time had passed since I last performed this action. Catalog Netflix replenished hundreds of new films, and I began to choose. And choose. And again to choose. Must see Twilight! Or Twilight-2. Or 3. An endless tale about a girl who has to choose between a pumped up press and a steady addiction. Avatar! The film is about how the Blue Man Group went to Jurassic Park.
Too wide selection, I felt excited. In short, there was a paralysis of choice. For an hour I tried to choose a movie that would suit me, and I managed to watch it less than half when the time was out. My subscription now looks to me like a tense relationship that you usually fear to end.
Psychologist Barry Schwartz described this phenomenon in his 2004 book The Paradox of Choice , in which he proved that eliminating too many options can reduce buying fatigue.
He summed up the very interesting experiment of Sheena Yengar and Mark Lepper:
The fact is that with an abundance of choices your uncertainty about what kind of option is right for you increases. Instead of rejoicing at your decision, you feel tired. Or did I choose? Maybe it was better to choose something else? What did my friends choose? Maybe it was better to ask them? I do not want to seem silly. You fall into the pit, wondering if you have missed the opportunity to get something better. How many times have you reviewed the stack of technologies that you use?
When you have so many choices, you can also raise your expectations. Maybe you even think that if you wait a bit, you will find the "most suitable" option. It is clear that in this situation the right choice should be mind-blowing. However, often when it comes to light that the “right” choice is, you feel dissatisfied. Such high expectations are difficult to satisfy, and you remain in this state of dissatisfaction.
Javascript has the so-called “Another Framework Syndrome” (how many solutions do you have for MVC, template rendering or data-binding?), Perl has the syndrome “There is more than one way to do it”, and Python has “Should have the obvious way to do this, "Zen development in Python.
We all need to start being realistic in our expectations. Competitions can easily coexist, but perhaps some developer with a passing interest in a tool or framework will get more from less choice than one who has a strong interest and rich experience in using only a limited set will get from a wide selection.
If you are an experienced developer, talk to someone who is stuck in choosing a solution, help him simplify the task. This is an excellent experience, it can help narrow down the choice to a state that does not look frightening. Even the removal of several items from the list of options can give a person the opportunity to clarify a situation for himself and choose something that he can at least evaluate before making a decisive choice.
In front-end development, we are constantly faced with such a problem as an abundance of choices. We see an abundance of tools, frameworks, languages, abstractions and platforms. Such a choice is certainly good for competition and further development, however, when faced with so many options, you can fall into a stupor. Instead of making your choice, you feel abandoned, with a sense of uncertainty in front of a huge pile of options. This is not necessarily the problem of the front-end industry - this is the problem of human nature.
Take a simple example - let's say we want to watch a movie on Netflix.
A week ago I wanted to watch a movie there. I stole a couple of hours from me, which I thought would be enough to select and view something.
')
But I did not even think that some time had passed since I last performed this action. Catalog Netflix replenished hundreds of new films, and I began to choose. And choose. And again to choose. Must see Twilight! Or Twilight-2. Or 3. An endless tale about a girl who has to choose between a pumped up press and a steady addiction. Avatar! The film is about how the Blue Man Group went to Jurassic Park.
Too wide selection, I felt excited. In short, there was a paralysis of choice. For an hour I tried to choose a movie that would suit me, and I managed to watch it less than half when the time was out. My subscription now looks to me like a tense relationship that you usually fear to end.
Psychologist Barry Schwartz described this phenomenon in his 2004 book The Paradox of Choice , in which he proved that eliminating too many options can reduce buying fatigue.
He summed up the very interesting experiment of Sheena Yengar and Mark Lepper:
“When researchers set up [in the grocery store] a stand showing a number of cans of exotic, high-quality jam, buyers could try samples, and if they bought a jar, they would receive a coupon for a $ 1 discount. Once for tasting 6 varieties of jam were available. In the other - 24. Both times, all 24 species were available for purchase. The wide selection attracted more buyers to the table than a small one; nevertheless, on average, people always tasted about the same number of types of jam. However, when it came to buying, the difference became obvious. 30 percent of people who tasted jam from a small set bought it; and only 3 percent of people who made a choice from a variety of options did the same. ”
The fact is that with an abundance of choices your uncertainty about what kind of option is right for you increases. Instead of rejoicing at your decision, you feel tired. Or did I choose? Maybe it was better to choose something else? What did my friends choose? Maybe it was better to ask them? I do not want to seem silly. You fall into the pit, wondering if you have missed the opportunity to get something better. How many times have you reviewed the stack of technologies that you use?
When you have so many choices, you can also raise your expectations. Maybe you even think that if you wait a bit, you will find the "most suitable" option. It is clear that in this situation the right choice should be mind-blowing. However, often when it comes to light that the “right” choice is, you feel dissatisfied. Such high expectations are difficult to satisfy, and you remain in this state of dissatisfaction.
Javascript has the so-called “Another Framework Syndrome” (how many solutions do you have for MVC, template rendering or data-binding?), Perl has the syndrome “There is more than one way to do it”, and Python has “Should have the obvious way to do this, "Zen development in Python.
We all need to start being realistic in our expectations. Competitions can easily coexist, but perhaps some developer with a passing interest in a tool or framework will get more from less choice than one who has a strong interest and rich experience in using only a limited set will get from a wide selection.
If you are an experienced developer, talk to someone who is stuck in choosing a solution, help him simplify the task. This is an excellent experience, it can help narrow down the choice to a state that does not look frightening. Even the removal of several items from the list of options can give a person the opportunity to clarify a situation for himself and choose something that he can at least evaluate before making a decisive choice.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/235603/
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