3.
Kayak is one of the most complicated sites I have ever had to use:
Kayak
Above, I'm looking for a hotel room in Toronto, Canada from April 26-28. Immediately after entering that information, I landed on the previous page.
Ads, filters, price comparisons, star ratings, numerical ratings, sharing, “Save 25%” banners , comparison calls to action, sorting options. Where am I supposed to look? I just want to find a cheap hotel in Toronto and I’m getting more information than I expected.
Kayak is screaming for system two to wake up.
Nothing on the previous page says “automatic” or “unconscious.” It requires conscious thought to navigate meaningfully. Maybe that’s Kayak’s plan, maybe they want system two to be on the alert, but if not, keep it simple.
4. Play with familiarity
Simplicity is key to system one. An underrated way to create simplicity and a truly intuitive experience is familiarity. Why? Because of what’s called the mere exposure effect , a cognitive bias that means being exposed to something can create a certain kind of affection for it.
For example, you are more likely to develop a canada whatsapp group friendship with someone you see every day. If you stopped seeing them as frequently, you might slowly lose touch with them because your mutual preference (i.e. friendship) was probably fueled by mere exposure.
This doesn't just apply to relationships and friendships. It applies online, too. As internet users, we develop preferences for certain designs and prototypes because we see them all the time. For example, I bet a lot of people find hamburger menus on mobile more appealing now than they did a couple of years ago.
In ecommerce , visitors are used to seeing the shopping cart in the top right corner, for example. On product pages, they are used to seeing the product image on the left and the details on the right. They are used to seeing the price clearly marked. They are used to seeing a big “Buy” or “Add to Cart” button.
Studio Neat
This level of simplicity allows system one to log in and out without waking up system two.
How to appeal to decision-making system two
1. All stand for the surprise
Anything unexpected will cause system one to stop, meaning system two will wake up. For example, here's an exit-intent popup you get when visiting Poo-Pourri for the first time:
Poo-Pourri
Something as simple as a newsletter subscription popup can gently jolt system one into wakefulness. It's unexpected and requires a decision: do I subscribe or do I opt out?
Think of surprise as the opposite of familiarity. Anything unexpected (e.g., a popup , a site survey, a clever piece of text, a striking image) will slow down the mechanical routine of system one and wake up system two.
Make sure that whatever you're using to surprise system one isn't too taxing on system two. Remember, system two is probably already low on capacity and you'll need some of that capacity later. With great power comes great responsibility.