Digital Nudging–Guiding Choices by Using Interface Design

Schneider, C., Weinmann, M., and vom Brocke, J. (2018). Digital Nudging–Guiding Choices by Using Interface Design, Communications of the ACM, 61(7), 67-73.

12 Pages Posted: 16 Oct 2017 Last revised: 5 Oct 2018

See all articles by Christoph Schneider

Christoph Schneider

University of Navarra, IESE Business School

Markus Weinmann

University of Cologne; Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM)

Jan vom Brocke

University of Liechtenstein

Date Written: October 13, 2017

Abstract

Decisions are influenced by the environment in which the choices are presented. In fact, no choice is made in a vacuum, as there is no neutral way to present choices. Presenting choices in certain ways, even unintentionally, can “nudge” people to change their behavior in predictable ways. “Nudging” is a concept from behavioral economics that describes how even minor changes to decision environments (e.g., setting defaults) can influence decision outcomes—typically without the decision-maker noticing this influence. The more decisions people make using digital devices, the more the software engineer becomes a choice architect who knowingly or unknowingly influences people’s decisions. Thus, we extend the nudging concept to the digital environment, defining “digital nudging” as the use of user-interface design elements to guide people’s behavior in digital choice environments, and present a digital nudge design process to help online choice architects take nudging principles into consideration when designing digital choice environments like Web sites and apps.

Keywords: Digital Nudging, Behavioral Economics, Choice Architecture, Human-Computer Interaction

Suggested Citation

Schneider, Christoph and Weinmann, Markus and vom Brocke, Jan, Digital Nudging–Guiding Choices by Using Interface Design (October 13, 2017). Schneider, C., Weinmann, M., and vom Brocke, J. (2018). Digital Nudging–Guiding Choices by Using Interface Design, Communications of the ACM, 61(7), 67-73. , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3052192

Christoph Schneider (Contact Author)

University of Navarra, IESE Business School ( email )

Avenida Pearson 21
Barcelona, 08034
Spain

Markus Weinmann

University of Cologne ( email )

Albertus-Magnus-Platz
Cologne, 50923
Germany

Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM) ( email )

P.O. Box 1738
3000 DR Rotterdam
Netherlands

Jan Vom Brocke

University of Liechtenstein ( email )

Fuerst Franz Josef-Strasse
Vaduz, 9490
Liechtenstein

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