Interactive decision aids

Tools that screen options and lay finalists side by side cut effort and improve decisions, and also steer which attributes matter.

Choice architecture Mainly on Search pages
Where it applies

Four of the eight page areas.

HomepageAlso applies CategoryAlso applies SearchMainly here ProductAlso applies CartNot typical CheckoutNot typical Post-purchaseNot typical

Not usually a sitewide principle. See everything at work on Search pages

How to use it

Three ways to use it, and one to avoid.

  • Offer a product finder or quiz that returns a short ranked list.
  • Build a compare tool with attributes in aligned rows.
  • Choose the attributes the finder asks about deliberately, because shoppers then weight them.
  • Avoid: presenting a margin-led finder as neutral advice, which is manipulative: disclose it if recommendations are commercially weighted.
What the research found

Decision aids cut search effort, and recommendations shifted real purchases.

The attributes the agent used stayed prominent in later shopping.

In simulated-store experiments, a recommendation agent cut search effort and produced smaller, better consideration sets, and the attributes it used stayed prominent in later shopping. In a randomised field experiment with over a million users of a large retailer’s website, Lee and Hosanagar found recommendations raised views and sales but narrowed overall sales towards popular items.

Key research

Four sources, each checked.

Last reviewed

Häubl & Trifts (2000) Consumer Decision Making in Online Shopping Environments: The Effects of Interactive Decision Aids Marketing Science Read the source Häubl & Murray (2003) Preference Construction and Persistence in Digital Marketplaces: The Role of Electronic Recommendation Agents J. Consumer Psychology Read the source Xiao & Benbasat (2007) E-Commerce Product Recommendation Agents: Use, Characteristics, and Impact MIS Quarterly Read the source Lee & Hosanagar (2019) How Do Recommender Systems Affect Sales Diversity? A Cross-Category Investigation via Randomized Field Experiment Information Systems Research Read the source
Before you use it · UK law

Disclose if recommendations are commercially weighted; presenting a margin-led finder as neutral advice is manipulative.

This is simply a pointer to check, not legal advice. Seek legal advice before you put this principle into action.