{"id":12606,"date":"2007-12-31T15:37:36","date_gmt":"2007-12-31T15:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.adobe.com\/jnackdev\/2007\/12\/photoshop-the-paradox-of-choice.html"},"modified":"2007-12-31T15:37:36","modified_gmt":"2007-12-31T15:37:36","slug":"photoshop_the_paradox_of_choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jnack.com\/blog\/2007\/12\/31\/photoshop_the_paradox_of_choice\/","title":{"rendered":"Photoshop & "The Paradox of Choice""},"content":{"rendered":"

Shopping for strollers this weekend (oh yes, it’s getting to be that time<\/em>), my wife and I found ourselves adrift amidst dozens and dozens of similar models.  Multiple cupholders, detachable Cheerio hoppers, quick-release "infant inserts," heated leather-wrapped winches with built-in fondue pots (<–okay, I only wished for that last one)–it all makes your head swim.  God, how do you make The Right Choice™?<\/p>\n

Finally I said, "You know, if we walked in here and there were only one stroller, we’d probably say, ‘Looks great, we’ll take it.’"  And with that, we chilled out, made a choice, and walked out happy.<\/p>\n

This is just one example of the bafflement people face on a daily basis.  Whether it’s 175 kinds of salad dressing or 6 million possible stereo combinations in a single store (both real examples), says psychologist Barry Schwartz<\/a>, this "infinite choice" is paralyzing<\/u>.  According to the TED Web site that hosts his entertaining and enjoyable 20-minute talk<\/a> on the subject,<\/p>\n

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[It’s] exhausting to the human psyche. It leads us to set unreasonably high expectations, question our choices before we even make them, and blame our failures entirely on ourselves.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

His example about buying jeans ("I want the kind<\/em> that used to be the only kind!<\/em>") is particularly dead-on: "All this choice enabled me to do better<\/em>… but I felt worse<\/u><\/em>."  Why?  Because choice raises expectations, and "With perfection the expectation, the best you can hope for is that stuff is as good as you as you expected."<\/p>\n

I think about this issue with Photoshop all the time.  For years I’ve argued that the problem isn’t that people can’t accomplish something; it’s that they think there must<\/u> be an even better way to do it, and that they’re therefore failing to achieve perfection.  Thus they can get better results while feeling worse.<\/p>\n

So, what can we do about it?<\/p>\n

A simple response is just to hide things, offering "simple" and "advanced" modes, or the like.  Photoshop does this in a number of places, via menu customization (try the "Basic" workspace) and More\/Fewer Options buttons in dialogs like Shadow\/Highlight.  The thing is, this doesn’t work all that well.  People just say "Show me everything."  Why?  Because no one wants to be the guy who drops three grand on an SLR, then leaves it in moron mode.  No one wants a Ducati with training wheels.<\/p>\n

A better solution, I think, is to make Photoshop more task-oriented<\/u>.  We need to help people bring forward what’s needed, when<\/em> it’s needed, and put it away when it isn’t.  We need to emphasize best practices<\/u>–showing the constellations among the stars.  The Photoshop team can’t do this on its own: we need to help users blaze their own trails, then share the solutions with others.  We group these ideas under the heading "Lighting the Way.<\/strong>"  Instead of offering unlimited choice, or putting irritating constraints on it, we’ll work to provide just the right choices most of the time<\/u>.<\/p>\n

Finding the balance is no easy challenge, but that’s what makes it fun.
\nJ.\n<\/p>\n

Related interestingness: <\/p>\n