A myriad of menus

The seemingly countless menus of the web present series of fixed choices. Though we have control over how we navigate from one set of choices to another, we rarely have control over the choices themselves. In many ways, using the internet is like choosing a place to eat. You can go anywhere you’d like, and you may even be able to have your meal delivered to your doorstep, but you can’t control is what the chef is serving up.

A brief point of clarification:

I don’t think menus are bad.

It would be foolish to think that it is only by complete autonomy that users are liberated in a meaningful, ethical way online. As humans, we thrive when we can react to limited options. There are entire fields of research² focused on how humans interact with endless choices.

Just as I don’t think that menus and navigational structures are the problem, I also don’t think the designer having control over options is the problem. Like the Wizard of Oz, the problem comes from the curtain we place between the designer and user.

Allowing users to know what they can and can’t control is a necessary conversation we must have in the UX community. It’s not just a design problem; it’s a strategy problem. Only when we’re aware of the fencing around us we can start to survey our environment.

Within smaller websites, applications, and platforms, it can be easy to clearly outline the lay of the land. However, on complex, algorithmically controlled environments, boundaries blur in problematic ways.

Especially with social platforms, well-trodden pathways are constantly interrupted with systematic feedback, suggestions, and persuasion. Attempts to educate users about their surroundings are commandeered to manipulate them into choosing what is better for engagement metrics or business goals.

No one is immune to this form of online persuasion; it’s the backbone of user experience. It’s human to want to convince someone to do just about anything; this principle remains true online. However, through behavioral manipulation, users lose their ability to choose wisely.