Word: Anticipatory Design

Definition: When decisions are made and executed on behalf of the user, thus eliminating the need for choice.

Thoughts: The goal of this type of design, as stated by Aaron Shapiro in a recent Fast Co. article, is to essentially relieve the user of any decision making because the choices are instead made for her. The elimination of decision, reduces steps, and thus reduces task time. The key here is automation through machine learning.

Anticipatory design is based on previous knowledge of user behaviors. Think about the future of buying airline tickets. The idea being that you will no longer need to fill out long forms and enter in personal information. Instead, the application will see on your calendar that you are attending an out of town wedding and book your tickets for you based on previous purchasing habits like preferred airlines and travel times.

Question: How much of user experience is based on the notion of user decision-making? How does automated choices change our mental model as UX designers?