Design Systems with Your Most Vulnerable Users in Mind

If one option is better for rich and experienced people while another is better for vulnerable individuals, use smart defaults, which pre-select different options for different people to try to benefit all people.

When that is not possible, always choose the option that benefits vulnerable employees, because they are typically more likely to keep default options.

Another effective tool to reduce inequities and improve decisions is to eliminate options that are inferior to other options in every way, which are called dominated options.

Like other nudges, removing these options benefited people with low socioeconomic status most because they were less likely to have the knowledge needed to determine which options were most beneficial to them.