People choose the path of least resistance, and this shapes language, search, and habit formation.
Zipf's 1949 principle. It explains word-frequency distributions, why people accept the first adequate search result, and why the default option in any system carries most of the traffic.
In practice
- A library's most-borrowed shelf is the one by the door, and the catalogue is consulted by the few who did not find what they wanted there.
- A form with an optional field has that field left blank by nearly everyone, whatever the guidance says.