n.
Terminology | ambiguity effect

It's in our basic nature to try and avoid options that involve too many unknowns

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We dislike feelings of uncertainty, so we tend to avoid any "risky" options when we are making a decision. Instead, we choose an option where the favorable outcome is already known. In other words, our decision-making abilities are affected by a lack of information, limiting us and limiting our choices. We potentially miss out on the very equal possibility that the "riskier" option (the one with more unknowns) could actually turn out to be a good decision with positive outcomes and long-term benefits.

Ambiguity Effect

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Designed & built by: Zohar Pomerantz |  Special thanks to: Assaf Dov Cohen and Polar Team

The belief that more choice, and so more freedom, is a good thing is actually incorrect —

Choice is a real struggle when there's so much of it. The more options to choose from simply leaves us feeling overwhelmed, while having direct consequences on our mental wellbeing. This can lead to an increase in anxiety and depression, in decreased satisfaction, and regret over the choices we have already made. This issue is most commonly known as choice overload or “The Burden of Choice.”

The Project:

This project was born from personal experience, of wanting to learn more about my own decision anxiety and the reasons for why I suffer from it. Off the start, while researching the subject, I began to realize just how many other people are influenced by this same anxiety, yet feel alone in it, unaware of the existence of 'choice overload.' More so than that, while educating myself on the subject I began to feel disorientated - all the information available was scattered among different platforms, hidden in tiresome textual formats that would cause the average person to abandon the effort of learning altogether. “The Burden of Choice” was designed as a solution to these problems, creating a visual platform to expose users to the issue— providing a place to experience and learn more about it, while giving the issue the proper acknowledgment and recognition that it deserves.