The Joint Effects of Effort and Quality on Decision Strategy Choice with Computerized Decision Aids

Research has recently focused on the effort-reduction or minimization role of computerized decision aids, and how users may employ aids to manage their effort, which in turn affects their choice of decision strategies. In this paper, it is argued that consideration of effort reduction or minimization by itself is not sufficient for inducing changes in decision strategy. Instead, decision aid effects on effort must be considered jointly with the decision quality associated with the various decision strategies. This is true even if the decision aid has no effect on decision quality. We adapt and extend a theoretical framework that can be used to evaluate the joint effects of effort and quality on decision strategy choice. In addition, we reinterpret past research results in light of the framework and present new experimental evidence on the descriptive validity of the framework.