Ego Depletion and UX Design: How Decision Fatigue Impacts User Experience
Explore how the psychological concept of ego depletion affects digital user behavior, and how UX designers can build interfaces that minimize mental fatigue and maximize engagement. What Is Ego Depletion? Ego depletion is a psychological theory suggesting that willpower and self-control are limited resources. First introduced by psychologist Roy Baumeister in 1998, the theory explains how every act of decision-making, resisting temptation, or controlling impulses consumes a finite amount of mental energy. Once this energy is depleted, our ability to make rational choices or resist impulses significantly weakens. Cookie vs. Radish Experiment: A Classic Ego Depletion Study In one famous study, participants were divided into two groups—one allowed to eat chocolate cookies, and the other instructed to eat only raw radishes while resisting the cookies. Afterward, both groups attempted to solve a complex puzzle. Those who had to resist the cookies gave up significantly sooner, illustra...