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Law of Minimal Effort
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People subconsciously (think, automatically), will often opt for the path of minimal effort.
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Introduction
Laziness is hard-wired into our system, and people will unknowingly opt for the path of minimal effort.
Importantly, this is without even being aware that they are taking such a shortcut.
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Deeper dive
A puzzle
It's easier to show you this, rather than explain it.
Look at the puzzle below:
- A bat and ball costs £1.10.
- The bat costs 1 pound (£) more than the ball.
- How much does the ball cost?
Most people would answer the obvious: the ball costs £0.10. And they'd be wrong.
The answer
If the bat costs £1.00 more than the ball, then the ball costs £0.05 (the bat costs £1.05).
This is a puzzle that initially seems easy, and most people who could objectively answer it correctly, wouldn't have, because they unknowingly took the path of least effort.
They settled on the first answer the was feasibly correct, rather than investing the small amount of effort required to check their initial judgement.
This is how people navigate the world, including digital products.
The bat and ball study
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Written by Peter Ramsey
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