Decision Making and Psychology
This TED talk, by Dan Ariely, is one I first saw a long time ago but happened to stumble across again this morning. Dan is the author of Predictibly Irrational, which is an easy-to-read book along the same lines as this talk. So if you like the presentaiton, I recommend the book. The lessons from these types of studies are important for visual communication. We often feel that giving people more information will make it easier to make the right choices. Paradoxically, however, more information often leads to the default choice. In terms of supporting decisions, sometimes less is more.