The Art Of Choosing: The Decisions We Make Everyday of our Lives, What They Say About Us and How We Can Improve Them

by Sheena Iyengar

This study shows that people can learn to choose from more options, but they’re less likely to drown if they start off in the shallows and then slowly move toward the deep, all the while building their skills and their nerve. A large choice pool of 56 paint colors isn’t as overwhelming when it occurs near the end of the choosing process, by which point we have a much clearer vision of the whole car. If we generally know what kind of car we want to buy—sporty, sophisticated, family-friendly—this provides additional structure that simplifies the choosing task by eliminating some options and highlighting others. We should, therefore, focus first on the dimensions that are easiest to choose from, whether because they offer fewer options or because we already know what we want, and let these choices guide us through the more difficult dimensions.