Why more options are generally bad UI

[denise]

One of the most frequent things I see in dw_suggestions is a pattern that goes like this:

User A, making the suggestion: I don't like this behavior foo, and I think it should do bar instead.

User B: I rely on this behavior foo, and if it did bar, it would break my use of the site.

User A: Okay, so, I'd like to refine my suggestion to instead propose an option so people who want foo can have foo, and people who want bar can have bar.

(Or, the compact version: user A, knowing that their friends use foo but they want bar, proposes a suggestion that jumps straight to the option.)

Those suggestions are less likely to get accepted for implementation. Very, very, very much less likely to get accepted for implementation. Why? From a user interface design standpoint, generally speaking, options are bad. They force someone to make a choice, and nine times out of ten, those choices aren't necessary.

( Why more options are usually bad UI )