Software is usually designed as a choose-your-own-adventure affair. To complete tasks, users move through an application by making a series of choices based on available options. This can include choosing an item from a menu, choosing the appropriate tool from a toolbar, or selecting a piece of content from a list. The user is always free to decide for themselves, but the design and presentation of these options has the power to greatly influence the choices they make.

In their book, Nudge, Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein make an argument for what they call “libertarian paternalism” in the design and architecture of choices. The idea is that we can design software that allows a person to make his or her own choices (libertarianism), but that we also have the power to “nudge” that person in the direction of his or her best interest (paternalism). Of course, this means we can also nudge people in a direction that is in our

As designers, every decision we make has the potential to nudge a user down a specific path. Sometimes, the consequences of these nudges are beneficial. Sometimes they’re not. To create a stellar user experience, we must explicitly define when and how we nudge.

Here’s a simple, two-step framework for deciding when to nudge, how to nudge, and what outcome is “best” in a given choice architecture.

Step 1: Defining the Best Outcomes

Whenever you’re presenting a user with a choice, ask yourself: What are the user’s goals at this point? Which options will best help them achieve those goals? What are the business goals in this situation? Which options best deliver on those goals? Do the user’s best options match those of the business?

I recommend setting up a two-by-two grid to answer these questions. I call it a choice outcome matrix:

The choice outcome matrix plots possible choices based on their benefit to the user vs. their benefit to the business. Choices that are good for the business and good for the user are no-brainers; your designs should nudge toward these. Choices that are bad for the business and bad for the user should probably be eliminated from the set of options all together. Choices that are good for one but not the other aren’t as simple. Determining the best outcome here is a case-by-case decision. Ask yourself: Do we value the business outcome over the user experience in this case, or vice versa? In these cases, you can also consider what would need to change to better align the two.

Take, for example, a user signing up for a subscription service in which they’re presented with two plan options: a free, ad-supported plan or a premium, ad-free plan at $9.99 per month.

These choices are plotted on the matrix below:

In this basic example, the free plan is better for the user because it’s free. The pay plan is better for the business from a revenue standpoint, but worse for the user because of the cost. (Note: This assumes a pretty benign ad experience. If ads are intrusive, the plot might look different — meaning, it might be worth it for a user to pay to avoid ads.)

How might this matrix influence a final design? Here’s how Spotify handled a similar scenario: