“While the ability to choose is generally a good thing, too much freedom of choice is crippling us with indecision and making us unhappy.”
This snippet caught me eye in a recent news article recently called “Too much choice: variety the strife of life“. The article talks about key findings from a new study soon to be published in the Journal of Consumer Research by Professor Hazel Rose Markus from Stanford University.
Although their focus was broad (i.e. the study is called “Does choice mean freedom and wellbeing?” ), the study’s findings resonated with what we’ve seen at Software Shortlist in terms of how people feel about choosing software. Excessive choice can be a real problem.
Does the following sound familiar to you?
“People can become paralysed by too much variety, or racked with uncertainty and regret about whether they have made the right decision. Ultimately, these people can be less satisfied by the choices they have made.”
Our experience at Software Shortlist is that people want to know that all software options have been looked at, but doing the full research and evaluation process themselves can be frustrating and even counter-productive. This is why we do the detailed legwork for you – and present you with a manageable shortlist, so you can make an effective choice from the best and most relevant options.
