People make thousands of decisions daily, from what to wear to complex work choices. Each depletes a limited reserve of mental energy. By the end of the day, decision quality deteriorates - a phenomenon psychologists call decision fatigue.
This has profound implications for UX design. Every option, setting, and choice in your interface taxes users' mental resources. Products that demand too many decisions create exhausted, frustrated users who make poor choices or abandon tasks entirely.
I once worked on a marketing tool where we reduced the initial setup flow from 23 decisions to 7 by using smart defaults and progressive disclosure. Completion rates increased by 48%, and - surprisingly - users reported feeling more in control despite having fewer explicit choices.
This reveals a counterintuitive truth: more options often make users feel less powerful by overwhelming them with complexity. True empowerment comes from interfaces that reduce unnecessary decisions while preserving meaningful choices.
To combat decision fatigue, audit your interfaces for decision points. For each, ask: Is this decision necessary now? Can we provide a smart default? Can we simplify the options? Could we make a recommendation based on user context?
Techniques like progressive disclosure, sensible defaults, recently used items, and contextual recommendations all reduce decision burden. Save users' decision-making energy for choices that truly matter to them.
Remember: users typically want outcomes, not options. A well-designed product anticipates needs and reduces friction, making complex tasks feel effortless. The best interfaces aren't those offering the most choices, but those requiring the fewest decisions to accomplish users' goals.