Hey there, young dude! So, you’re trying to decide whether to buy a new radiator for your car, get a tattoo, or invest in some software for your freelancing side job? You can’t ask your parents for advice, because at your age (mid-twenties, right?), they’re probably still borderline short-bus material in your mind.
No need to fret: You can get personalized feedback from LetSimonDecide. And it’ll be based on your personality and goals, not just what the ‘rents would consider a safe bet.
The site presents tools to help young adults define their goals, current life situations, personality, and current decision-making habits. This “life profile” information is then used to help make decisions that range in nature from educational, financial, and professional to political, leisure, and lifestyle.
The application is compared by some to the forthcoming Hunch.com, which we wrote about recently. LetSimonDecide was created by Ayax Systems, a company that specializes in comsumer decision making. “All too often people bring too much emotion into important life decisions,” said Ayax CEO, Ricardo Solar. “LetSimonDecide.com gives users an unbiased, 360-degree view of the many factors that should be taken into consideration before making important decisions, helping them make more informed, smarter choices in the end.”
The interface is user-friendly and rich in graphics. Beta accounts are available in both English and Spanish language versions.
To test the decision-making process on LetSimonDecide, we chose to consider whether I, Jolie O’Dell, should get another tattoo. Here’s how the process started.
LetSimonDecide presented us with scores of factors to take into consideration: Age, sex appeal, cost, culture, and just about anything else one could imagine as being part of anyone’s tattoo decision. The site then prompted us to rank the chosen factors in order of significance.
The app then did something that young people are so bad at: It challenged us to see which possible outcomes best met our stated important factors, closing the gap between the impulse to do/buy something cool and the long-term requirements of real life.
Next came the hardcore reality check: How did this decision relate to my long-term life goals, my personality, and my current life situation? Dad would be so proud.
At long last, “Simon” helped me decide. Looks like I’m in for some ink sometime in the near future.
Once the decision-making process is complete, users can share their conclusions with other site members and make an action plan to implement the decision. Unfortunately, cross-network sharing is not yet a feature. Personally, I’d love to tweet my tat decision and get feedback from my friends; this comes from a childhood filled with the phrase, “There is wisdom in a multitude of counselors.” Also, friends could probably help out with the “action plan” phase for lots of decisions.
Overall, the process was actually quite fun. It took the anxiety and pain out of making decisions based on reality. We recommend it for the indecisive, the poor planners, and the chronically chaotic. Users who might fit that profile are especially encouraged to test the app and leave their findings in the comments here.
