User Experience Design and Digital Nudging in a Decision Making Process

When using online nudges to steer people in the right direction while they are making a decision, there is usually one preferable outcome. What might happen if the user experience is inadequate, will the nudges still work or might they be undermined? In this paper we investigate the correlation between user experience and digital nudges in a decision making process. A user A/B test was conducted to investigate the problem. The test participants visited one of two websites that included the same nudges where they were nudged to choose option (a) instead of (b). The only difference in the websites was the quality of the user experience, one website design had a good user experience while the other one offered an inadequate user experience. The results showed that everyone who was assigned the good user experience chose (a), while two of the inadequate experience participants chose (b). The results indicate that user experience design can be used for digital nudging

Rethinking Digital Nudging: A Taxonomical Approach to Defining and Identifying Characteristics of Digital Nudging Interventions

Digital nudging interventions have emerged as soft-paternalistic mechanisms for reducing heuristic limitations and biases in decision-making environments. Prior research has conceptualized digital nudging interventions as subtle modifications in the decision-making environment that nudge a decision maker towards better choices without limiting other alternatives. The approach has received criticism as researchers have achieved limited consensus on its definition, categorized diverse behavior-modulation methodologies as digital nudging, and raised multiple ethical concerns about it. Such ambiguity reduces fidelity while challenging synthesis, application, and replication. In this paper, we posit the need to broaden the definition of digital nudging interventions, reconcile the inconsistencies, and present a coherent frame. Based on a systematic review of the extant literature, we propose an extended definition that is coherent with the libertarian-paternalistic principle, clarifying the intent of digital nudging interventions, and delineating the nature of the digital artifacts involved. We further present a taxonomy with standard vernacular and label its complex underlying principles and the components that can guide practitioners and researchers