Recently, we decided to renovate our bathroom, so we’ve begun the process of researching everything we need for it. And boy, is it overwhelming!
We need a new shower head, right? Holy moly, there are so many choices!
Fixed head, dual head, rain shower, detachable head, 2-in-1 combo head, high pressure head….the list goes on.
It’s leading me to extreme overwhelm — after all, I just need something to spray out water, it shouldn’t be so complicated!
This is what’s known as the paradox of choice.
You’re presented so many options that it leaves you totally overwhelmed, second guessing whether you made the right decision, let alone feeling confident to even make a decision.
As we compare shopping for shower heads to your website, we might call this the digital paradox of choice: where your website provides so many different directions for the user, they can’t make a decision.
We might identify symptoms of the digital paradox of choice on your website by:
- Too many calls to action
- Too many links in your navigation
- Excessive amount of visuals
- No clear path or direction
- Overwhelming checkout processes
If your website has any (or all) of the above, it is easily leaving money on the table.
Users become fatigued, and leave elsewhere — causing much higher bounce rates (percentage of users that come to your website and leave quickly), confusion, and so many missed conversions.
How to avoid the digital paradox of choice
The best answer to officially ridding your site of user overwhelm is to simplify, simplify, simplify.
If there’s any question in your mind that you’re doing too much — you probably are times 10. You know your business in and out, imagine what a random user navigating your site might think about the 14 different options you’re offering. Fuhgeddaboudit.
Wherever possible, simplify your navigation into groups that make the most sense and are related. Keep at most 4-6 items in your primary navigation, and no more than 4-6 options under any single dropdown.
Beyond that, your website should have only 1-2 primary goals or actions that you want a user to take — identify what those goals are first (submit your form, buy a product, etc.), and then reevaluate your website to ensure that your user is directed down a path that always leads them to convert to the goal.
You never want a user to end up in no man’s land, without knowing where they are on your site, and nowhere near the end goal.
If you have a big site, like e-commerce or a content-heavy site, try utilizing breadcrumbs so your user has a trail of knowing where they’re at and how to navigate next.
In the end, you’re wanting to make the user experience and flow on your website as pleasing and seamless as possible, with no overwhelm or confusion.
Throwing a call to action button on every paragraph, or offering that product in every size, color and variation humanly possible, isn’t doing your customers any favors.
What you’re really doing is throwing your money out the window, causing your most valuable business asset to work against you.
But the good news? It’s fixable.
Simplifying your website doesn’t mean stripping away functionality or creativity — it means designing with clarity and purpose. It’s about guiding your users, not overwhelming them.
If your site could use a fresh set of eyes, I’d love to help you pinpoint opportunities to simplify — just hit reply or reach out.
To better websites (and fewer shower head options),
