What’s the difference between nudging vs. manipulating?
Summary: It’s no secret that products, services, and technologies are designed to influence people’s decisions—sometimes known as ‘nudging’ people. But how is nudging people different from manipulating them? Is there a difference between nudging vs. manipulating? Ideas from the book ‘Nudge’ can shed light on that question.
A key insight from the book is that the design of any product, service, or technology will inevitably nudge people, or influence what choices they make. There is no design that doesn’t nudge people, in one way or another. For this reason, designers of technology have the responsibility to ensure those nudges are ethical by design. In other words, the choice isn’t between nudging vs. manipulating. It’s between ethical vs. unethical design.
I just reread the book Nudge, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein. It’s a classic and entertaining book about the intersection of behavioral science and technology design. I had read the first edition some years ago in grad school and bought the second edition later. The third and final edition came out more recently, so I thought I’d revisit this book again.
For me, a key insight from Nudge: The Final Edition is that the design of something—such as a product, service, or technology—will inevitably ‘nudge’ people. To understand this insight, we first need to define what’s meant by the term ‘nudging.’ Then, we can address an important concern about nudging vs. manipulating, including the difference between the two.
What is nudging?
In behavioral science, ‘nudging’ doesn’t mean elbowing or poking someone. Rather, nudging means improving the choice architecture of a design, such as the design of a product, service, or technology.
OK, so what’s choice architecture? Choice architecture refers to how options are presented to people by the design of a product, service, or technology.
Nudges through choice architecture: a classic example
To illustrate, take something as simple as the design of a buffet table:
- If you design the buffet table with all the fruits and vegetables at the beginning of the table, and the deserts toward the end of the table, then more people are more likely to eat more fruits and vegetables than deserts.
- If you design the buffet table with all the desserts at the beginning of the table, and the fruits and vegetables toward the end, then more people will be more likely to eat more desserts than fruits and vegetables.
Therefore, the same table with the same choices can influence people’s eating decisions in very different ways, depending on how the food options are laid out or designed. The way we design such options is choice architecture. And the way that design will influence people’s decisions is nudging.
The bottom line: All designs have a choice architecture that can influence—or nudge—people when it comes to choosing some options over others. Hence, Thaler and Sunstein argue:
“there is no such thing as a ‘neutral’ design” (p 4).
Types of nudges
In their book, Thaler and Sunstein write about several types of nudges, including incentives, mappings, defaults, feedback, error prevention, and structuring complex choices. Here’s a quick overview of each one.
Incentives
In the context of nudging, the term incentives refers to clearly disclosing prices so that costs are easily noticeable. In other words, the cost of a product, service, or technology should be upfront, not hidden behind fine print. That design will help nudge people to make more cost-effective choices.
Mappings
The term mappings means making information easily understandable by displaying it in a readable format, especially for evaluating and comparing different options and recommendations. Common illustrations of such mappings are comparison tables, which allow people to compare similar options side by side. That design will help nudge people to carefully look at the advantages and disadvantages of choosing one option over another.
Defaults
Upon purchasing a smart device, software program, or other piece of tech, many people tend to just go with whatever default settings it came with. Therefore, it’s important to make sure the defaults are set up with people’s well-being in mind. For example, the defaults on smartphones or other device settings should be set up to maximize people’s privacy. That design will help nudge people to make choices that keep their information safe and secure.
Feedback and error prevention
Good designs give appropriate feedback and help prevent errors by telling people when they’re doing well and when they may be making a mistake. For instance, if you complete a task successfully (such as using software to do your taxes), you’ll see a success message. Likewise, if you close an application without saving (like when using Microsoft Word), you’ll see a warning, asking if you’d like to save. That design will help nudge people to make accurate choices.
Structure complex choices
Sometimes, when looking for information, there may be too many options to sort through. To mitigate this feeling of information overload, it’s helpful to structure complex choices by narrowing down the options to a manageable size. Common examples include website or app categories and filters, which help people quickly find what they’re looking for. That design will help nudge people to make choices to fit their needs and search intents.
Nudging vs. manipulating
Now that we’ve defined nudging, as well as several types of nudges, let’s address a common concern. In the form of an objection, it often goes something like this:
Aren’t nudges just subtle ways to manipulate people? What’s the difference between nudging vs. manipulating?
Differences between nudging vs. manipulating
Manipulation, of course, implies trying to influence people in an unscrupulous way, and some nudges may indeed be manipulative in this way. (See, for example, my discussion on the use and abuse of Fitts’ law in website designs.) But not all nudges are forms of manipulation. It depends on the ethics of the design. For instance, here are some nuances about designing nudges ethically to prevent them from becoming unscrupulous forms of manipulation.
Design nudges to preserve freedom of choice, benefit people, and be fully transparent
Nudges should always be designed to help people make decisions without taking away their freedom of choice. For instance, anyone who doesn’t want their smartphone to protect their privacy or keep their data secure can change the default settings. (I don’t know why someone would want to make that choice, but I do believe anybody should be free to do so.)
At the same time, most people will just tend to accept the default settings on their smartphones. For this reason, designers of smartphones should set up defaults to benefit users, with personal privacy and data protection in mind.
And those settings should always be accessible and fully transparent. That way, people can quickly find them, clearly see them, and easily change them, if anyone wishes to do so.
Nudge for good with ethical design
Again, a key insight from the book Nudge is that nudging people with technology design is inevitable. All designs entail a choice architecture. And that choice architecture can influence people’s decisions, in one way or another.
However, that doesn’t mean manipulating people with technology is inevitable, let alone justified. If anything, the opposite holds true. Since the design of technology will inevitably nudge people, designers have the responsibility to ensure those nudges are ethical.
In other words, the choice isn’t between nudging vs. manipulating. It’s between ethical design vs. unethical design. As the authors of Nudge instruct in the conclusion of their book:
“nudge for good” (p 339).
References
Thaler, Richard H. and Sunstein, Cass R. (2021). Nudge: The Final Edition. New York: Penguin Books.
Nice blog!