Textbook of Usability

Satisficing, a term coined by Herbert Simon in 1956 (combining "satisfy" and "suffice"), describes the decision strategy of choosing the first option that meets a minimum acceptable threshold rather than evaluating all options to find the optimal one. Satisficing reflects the reality of bounded rationality: real decision-makers lack the time, information, and cognitive capacity for exhaustive optimisation.

In interface use, satisficing is the norm, not the exception. Users do not read every menu item or compare every option. They scan until they find something that looks plausible and click it. Jakob Nielsen summarises this as "users don't read; they scan."

Consequences for design:

• Users will often click the first reasonable-looking option, even if a better one exists further down
• Link labels should be unambiguous, because users won't verify by reading adjacent options
• Search results at the top dominate clicks (Google's first result receives ~30% of clicks; the second ~15%)
• Well-designed defaults and recommendations exploit satisficing benevolently
• Misleading labels exploit satisficing maliciously — a satisficer clicks "Next" without examining that it agrees to marketing emails

Satisficing is not irrational; it is efficient under constraints. Designers must assume users will satisfice and ensure that the first acceptable-looking option is the right one.