18 · Deciding
Subtraction Neglect
When people try to improve something, they think of adding before removing, and often never get to removing.
Evidence: Holds, with limitsWhat we do with it
- 01
Ask what could be removed, out loud, every time. In the original study, a reminder that removing was allowed more than doubled the share of people who suggested it.
- 02
Pressure makes it worse. People found the helpful removals less often under heavier mental load, so don't leave the cutting to the rushed meeting before launch.
- 03
Count what an addition costs. Every new feature is one more thing everyone else has to look past.
Examples
Getting it wrong, getting it right.
Don't
Users say the settings page is confusing, so the team adds a help panel, a search box and a guided tour to it.
Do
The team first asks which settings almost nobody changes, and removes them.
The evidence
What the research says.
Adams and her colleagues ran eight experiments. People were less likely to find a helpful removal when nothing reminded them it was an option, when they had only one try, and when they were under heavier mental load. In one experiment, a reminder that removing things was allowed raised the share of people who suggested at least one removal from 21% to 48%. A 2024 replication by Juvrud and colleagues partly confirmed it: children aged 9 and 10 missed removals more often than adults did, and how strong the effect was in adults depended on the task and on whether they were in Sweden or the US.
Sources
- Adams, G. S., Converse, B. A., Hales, A. H., & Klotz, L. E. (2021). People systematically overlook subtractive changes. Nature, 592(7853).
- Juvrud, J., Myers, L., & Nyström, P. (2024). People overlook subtractive changes differently depending on age, culture, and task. Scientific Reports, 14.
Last reviewed November 9, 2026. How we keep this current
See it differently? If you've read research that points another way, or watched this go differently in your own work, tell us at hello@synergyprod.com. We'll read it and write back.