nile persuasive design
DESCRIPTION
Talk about Persuasive design tacticsTRANSCRIPT
Persuasive design
02 November 2012
Clare Barnett
User experience pyramid
Initially, the information age was all about hardware hardware hardware hardware
and softwareand softwareand softwareand software. Now, hardware and software are a
commodity.
Then came usabilityusabilityusabilityusability. People’s interaction with
software and websites became the main focus.
Usability is about making it easier for someone to
complete a goal.
• Can they do it?
Next came user experienceuser experienceuser experienceuser experience. It’s all about
engagement, making the user want to do something
in the first place, and guiding them towards adopting
an idea or attitude using rational and emotional
means.
• Will they do it?
• Will they do it again?
Stephen P Anderson summed it up nicely with his
User Experience PyramidUser Experience PyramidUser Experience PyramidUser Experience Pyramid.
http://contrast.ie/blog/make-it-meaningful/2
Persuasive design
What is persuasion?What is persuasion?What is persuasion?What is persuasion?
Persuasion is about making someone want to do something in the first
place; guiding a person towards adopting an idea, attitude or action by
rational and emotional means.
How do you design with persuasion?How do you design with persuasion?How do you design with persuasion?How do you design with persuasion?
• You need to understand emotions that influence decision making
• Then use that knowledge to design powerful products
Persuasive design tacticsPersuasive design tacticsPersuasive design tacticsPersuasive design tactics
There’s lots of different persuasive tactics that can be applied to design. I’ve
chosen 5 to discuss:
1. Social proof
2. Scarcity
3. Association
4. Limited choice
5. Framing
• Contrast (a type of framing)
3
Social proof
Our brains take a decision shortcut by interpreting popular things as things that are worthwhile.
Examples of this are:
• Peer pressure
• People who shopped for this also bought
• Top 10 most visited travel spots
• Testimonials by people similar in values to you
• User ratings
Persuasion4
A human decision-making shortcut.
When we start to act, but are not sure what decision to take, we look around to see what others are doing.
We tend to follow the patterns of similar people.
Social proof study
Robert Cialdini and a research team conducted a study to see which types of signs would
encourage Arizona hotel visitors to reuse their towels.
Stage 1Stage 1Stage 1Stage 1
Signs used were:
• “Help save the environment”
• “Help save resources for future generations”
These statements had similar results, 30% of guests reused their towel.
Stage 2Stage 2Stage 2Stage 2
The research team then added a bit of peer pressure.
“Join your fellow guests in helping to save the environment, nearly three-quarters of guests
used their towels more than once” saw a 44% increase in the reuse of towels.
Stage 3Stage 3Stage 3Stage 3
Taking it one step further by using “Seventy-five percent of the guests who stayed in this
room used their towels more than once”. Nearly 50% of guests reused their towel.
Telling people about the behaviour of previous guests increased the likelihood of reusing their
towels.
Persuasion5
More info: More info: More info: More info: http://www.influenceatwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/E_Brand_principles.pdf
Scarcity
Make people think they don’t want to miss an opportunity that will run out time.
• If there’s not much left, then others must really want it
• It’s tied to social proof as if it’s popular, others must like it
• Sometimes scarcity can make people purchase things they may
not have otherwise
• The word ‘exclusive’ represents scarcity and specialness
Scarcity can be used to encourage purchasing behaviours.
• Limit sales to a short space of time e.g. count down hours left to
purchase
• Create urgency e.g. highlight the end date or time of a sale
• Create exclusive opportunities
Persuasion6
We consider items worthwhile and valuable if they have limited availability or are promoted as being scarce.
Association
Linking a product, service or idea with the qualities and behaviours valued by the target market, often done through imagery.
• The message provides a strong emotional response
• This can be positive e.g. Nike using sports stars to advertise
products
• It can also be negative and is often used in wars e.g. Iraq
associated with weapons of mass destruction.
Persuasion7
We can be conditioned by pairing specific images to concepts.
Limited choice
People tell us they want lots of choices. If you give them too many, they are more likely to freeze and not make any choices at all.
• If there’s too much choice, the user can be put off by the length of
time it will take them to make a choice. They feel overwhelmed
• Simplify the decision path, present the more pressing option first
• By making it simple for a user to choose, they are more likely to
take action rather than delaying
Persuasion8
We are more likely to make a choice when there are fewer options.
We love choice, but often it can paralyse us into making no choice at all.
Image source: http://mobileapplicationtestingtimes.wordpress.com/
Limited choice study
Dr Sheena Iyengar, an expert in choice,
conducted an academic study to research if
the number of choices people have affect
their decision making and purchasing
process.
• Pots of jam were set out on tables in a
supermarket
• These were in groups of 6 and 24
• Shoppers who stopped at the table with
less jams on it made more purchases
• The table with more jam, although was
visually appealing so shoppers stopped,
as it made them think they had more
choice, it didn’t create as many sales of
jam
More information:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAuhGX
a6-Gs&feature=player_embedded
Persuasion9
Image source: http://www.humanfactors.com/
Framing
Framing is normally associated with pictures – you frame a picture. In this context, the frame shapes the way you think about things.
• What is inside the frame, we recognise
• What is outside the frame, we ignore
Framing is a technique used commonly in politics by using
emotionally charged words. It’s also used in courtrooms, where
attorneys try to shape the frame they want the jury to see.
A digital example would be providing three choices, were two of them
are red herrings, one a luxury choice, the other a basic. The choice
you want people to make sits midway between the other two.
Persuasion10
A frame is a mental model that shapes how we think about the world.
What is inside the
frame, we recognise
Contrast
Contrast is a specific type of framing. In order for people to understand the value of something, they will make comparisons against alternatives, or use some sort of external benchmark.
Use the contrast principle to shape the decision space. For example,
think of a wine list
• Extend the upper boundaries by putting more expensive options on
the list. By extending boundaries, customers are likely to choose a
more expensive wine
• Get the anchor point (the person’s most preferred position or
expectations) in the right place
Persuasion11
You control your frame by contrast, making comparisons against alternatives.
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Contact details
Clare Barnett