Heard Through (HT) @Formulate on Twitter
Source: Fafsa follies: to gain a student, eliminate a form | New York Times | Eleanor Davis, August 2015
A great article on the benefits and often hidden costs of poor form design. It also has some illuminating information about human psychology.
Keep your forms short
“a large body of evidence from economics and psychology shows that even minor bureaucratic hurdles can keep people from making smart investments in their futures.”
Opt in and Opt out are powerful tools
Nudges matter. One influential study examined a financial firm where new employees opted in to the retirement-savings plan by completing a short form. The company adjusted the process, instead allowing new employees to opt out of the savings plan by completing the form. This tiny change increased the share of employees saving for retirement by 50 percentage points.
People have trouble making rational decision for long term gain over short term benefit
Saving for retirement and preparing for college are similar: They both impose costs in the present in exchange for benefits in the future. Research shows that in these situations people deviate systematically from rational behavior, often to their own detriment.