Using Interactive Information Labels to Assist Decision Making Under Uncertainty: The Case for Long-term Saving
This addresses decision-making errors in retirement saving for consumers, but it is incremental as it builds on existing interactive design concepts.
The researchers tackled the problem of poor decision-making in long-term saving by developing an interactive information label, finding that it significantly improved users' ability to reach their goals, with 382 users in a simulator showing better decisions compared to static labels, especially for novice savers.
Product information labels can help users understand complex information leading them to make better decisions. One area where consumers are particularly prone to make costly decision-making errors is long-term saving, which requires understanding of complex concepts such as uncertainty and trade-offs. While most people are poorly equipped to deal with such concepts, interactive design can potentially help users make better decisions. We developed an interactive information label to assist consumers with retirement saving decision-making. To evaluate it, we exposed 382 users to one of three user interface conditions in a retirement saving simulator where they made 35 yearly decisions under changing circumstances. We found significantly better ability of users to reach their goals with the information label. Furthermore, users who interacted with the label made better decisions than those who were presented with a static information label. Lastly, we found the label particularly effective in helping novice savers.