Glossary
Smart Defaults
What are smart defaults?
Smart defaults are preselected settings intended to fit a user's needs or a defined objective while allowing alternatives. “Smart” describes the designer's aim. It does not establish that the choice is right for everyone.
A default determines what happens if you make no active selection. Automatic enrollment and an initially selected setting are two examples.
Examples of smart defaults
A cafeteria might include fruit as the standard side while allowing customers to choose another. An energy plan might initially select a renewable-energy option while leaving alternatives available. Both illustrate preselection; whether either is beneficial depends on the offer, costs, preferences, and outcome.
Automatic enrollment example
Imagine an employer’s retirement plan that automatically enrolls an eligible employee at a stated contribution rate and investment option unless the employee acts. Without a selection, that default takes effect. The employee can opt out or change the contribution rate or investment choice under the plan’s rules. This hypothetical example shows exactly which choices take effect by default.
Enrollment is only one outcome. Actual contributions depend on the rate, pay and continued participation; later financial outcomes also depend on factors such as withdrawals, fees and investment performance. A higher enrollment rate therefore does not by itself show that the default meets every employee’s needs or increases later financial wellbeing.
What the evidence shows
Jachimowicz and colleagues' meta-analysis found that defaults commonly influence choices, with substantial variation across studies. Some studies found no significant effect or a negative effect.
What counts as success?
Changing a selection is different from improving someone's life. Selecting fruit as the standard side, for example, does not tell you whether customers eat it.
Judge a default against the outcome it is meant to improve. Check who benefits, what happens downstream, and how easily people can choose something else.