Conduct a pan-European UX study to validate design patterns for android choice screens.
Client
BEUC, the European Consumer Organisation, worked with us to study how Android users across Europe choose their default browser. These “choice screens,” introduced under the EU’s Digital Markets Act, play a major role in how fair competition and user choice are ensured in the digital market.
Challenge
Android choice screens gave an advantage to the platform’s own browser, making competition uneven. Since there were no clear UX guidelines to follow, the main challenge was to design interfaces that treated all search engines equally without accidentally favoring one over another.
Changes and Impact
The research shaped EU-wide guidelines for fair and transparent choice screens, influencing how major tech platforms comply with the Digital Markets Act.
BEUC used the findings to advocate for standardized UX principles that ensure consumers can make informed, unbiased browser choices.
The insights helped policymakers and consumer organizations identify dark patterns and push for ethical UX standards across member states.
Role
Research lead
Worked directly with
Senior Advisor
Legal Officer
Deliverables
Research
Concept
Prototype
User testing
Data synthesis
EU design guidelines
Duration
6 Month
Default design creates unfair advantage
In the EU, Google holds more than 80% of the search engine market. During Android setup, users are presented with a choice screen to pick their default search provider.
In theory, this promotes competition. In practice, the design makes Google the default winner, most users simply tap what they know.
Samsung tablet Android choice screen
Nudging fair choices without manipulation
Key barriers stood in the way:
Familiarity bias → people pick Google out of habit.
Information gaps → many don’t know alternatives exist.
Design bias → current layouts give Google a visibility advantage.
How we approached the problem
We broke the project into three phases:
1.Research & principles
Reviewed literature on choice architecture and behavioral economics.
Defined design principles: fairness, switchability, education, inclusivity.
2.Ideation & prototyping
Sketched 80+ ideas, narrowed to 25, then refined 5 into interactive prototypes.
We defined hypotheses for each problem and tested them by changing one variable per prototype to clearly measure UI-driven behavior changes.
3.Testing
Simulated the Android onboarding flow to keep context realistic.
Qualitative: 35 in-depth interviews across 5 EU countries.
Quantitative: 1,437 participants (via Prolific).
What we discovered
We tested 7 variations of choice screens:
Logos matter → removing logos (A2) made users less likely to choose alternatives.
More info helps → expanded descriptions (A3) increased awareness, but not enough to outweigh habit.
Scrolling works → placing Google below the fold (A4) nudged +2.1% more users to explore other engines.
Reflection helps too → adding an info screen before selection (A6) reduced Google’s share by -4.41%.
Combination designs → mixing these interventions worked best, but familiarity bias remained the strongest driver.
The heatmaps show how layout, text length, and visuals affect user attention when choosing a default search engine.
The table compares how design changes across six experiments affected users’ search engine choices.
What this means for Design
Our experiments showed that even small tweaks in UI can shift choices, but they must be applied carefully:
Keep logos and branding → users rely on them
Add positive friction → scrolling or reflection screens encourage more exploration.
Place Google lower in the flow → visibility matters.
Provide clear explanations → help users understand what’s at stake.
From UX experiments to EU Policy
This project showed how UX design decisions carry policy weight, and how small details in interface design can impact competition across an entire continent.
Recommendations shared with EU policymakers and regulators.
Helped shape guidelines for fairer competition practices under the Digital Markets Act.
Final presentation walkthrough for the BEUC team