Choose your defaults with care, because most users keep them

Red-breasted Nuthatch, a plate from John James Audubon's The Birds of America (1827-1838).

The default is a decision that you make for most of your users.

The study. Two researchers from Columbia University compared organ donor rates in European countries with opt-in and opt-out rules. They also ran an online test with 161 people.

The finding. In the online test, 42% chose to be donors when they had to opt in. 82% stayed donors when they had to opt out. In countries with opt-out rules, consent was 86% to almost 100%. In opt-in countries, it was 4% to 28%.

Why it matters. Most people keep the default, because a change takes effort and the default feels like advice. In your product, every default is a choice that you make for most users.

The takeaway. List the defaults in your product. Set each one to the option that is best for most users.

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