Biases and effectsJohnson and Goldstein, 2003
Whatever is pre-selected stays selected. The newsletter checkbox that came ticked.
A study compared organ-donor consent rates across Europe. Denmark 4%, Germany 12%. Austria 99%, France 99%.
Not national character. Form design.
Low countries: "tick here if you wish to donate" (unticked means no). High countries: "tick here if you do not wish to donate" (unticked means yes). Whichever way the box starts, almost nobody touches it.
Three things stack. Effort — changing it means thinking and moving. Implied recommendation — "if it starts this way, this must be the normal choice". Blame — change it and fail and it is your fault; leave it and fail and "that is how it was".
Each is small, but all three push the same way, so most people never move.
From the designer's side: whoever sets the default effectively decides the outcome.
For yourself, set good defaults once: automatic savings on payday, which apps sit on the first screen. Fixing a default once beats choosing well every time.
For defaults someone else set, ask once: "who set this, and for whose benefit?" A pre-ticked box is usually ticked for the ticker.
The pre-ticked "send me updates"
The box at the end of sign-up that arrives ticked. Only one or two in ten untick it. Flip the default and opt-ins fall to the same fraction. Same offer, different starting state.
Pension enrolment at work
"Sign up if you want in" gets roughly half. "You are in unless you opt out" gets over ninety percent. Same scheme; the form points the other way.
The home screen as shipped
Most phones stay arranged the way they came. Whatever is on screen one gets opened most. Move the app you overuse to screen two and the count drops visibly.
If you take one thing
Most of the defaults in your life were not set by you. You are allowed to reset them, one at a time.
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