understanding the seductive experience

7/28/2019 Understanding the Seductive Experience

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Extraordinary products seduce the casual user, as well as the paying customer.

Software is no exception, as long as it fulfills its promises.

Seduct ion is an aspect of t he

growing field of captology, the study of how technologies persuade. This view of seduction

is derived from interactions with many products and experiences and can be used to create

software that is more enticing and valuable for its users. But be aware that the process of

seduction is highly subjective, not measurable in the same ways other forms of softwaredevelopment are measured. Thats why we include theory and not experimental data here.

We all know someone who has beenseduced by technologya friendwho was first to own a Palm Pilot,

who had to have a Bang andOlufsen stereo, who proudly owns a

limited-edition 20th Anniversary Macintosh, orwho worships a Porsche Boxter as if it were aminor deity. Extending beyond the range of

mere technology, the seductive power of thedesign of certain material and virtual objects cantranscend issues of price and performance forbuyers and users alike. To many an engineersdismay, the appearance of a product, or the wayit feels physically, can sometimes make or breakthe products market reaction, as in the case ofApples iMac (positively) and IBMs Peanut(negatively).

Audrey Hepburns black dress in the movieBreakfast at Tiffanys, the classic computer adven-ture game Myst, and the Broadway version of

The Lion Kingare all examples of seductive expe-riences going beyond beauty and efficiency.What they have in common is the ability to cre-ate an emotional bond with their audiences,almost a need for them. Except for some com-puter games, software is generally absent fromlists of seductive products. It could be that soft-ware applications traditionally emphasize fea-

tures and functions, but we suspect thatdevelopers simply dont understand the mechan-ics of seduction in the same way designers ofvideo games, industrial products, and fashionsunderstand them. Seduction also plays animportant role in automobile design, architec-ture, and entertainmentfields that can offerinsight into how seduction works. Therefore, thetwo most important questions for softwaredesigners concerning the use of seduction are:How and why is it effective?and What does theanswer mean for the future of technology?

Un d er st a n d in g t h eSed u c t ive Exper ien c eUn d er st a n d in g t h e

Sed u c t ive Exper ien c e

JULIE KHASLAVSKY AND NATHAN SHEDROFF


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What Is Seduction?Seduction is an adjective most people would notassociate with a computer interface, but whetherthey realize it or not, most people have been seducedor targeted for seduction by almost every form ofmedia. However, successful seduction is a careful art

not easily mastered or invoked.Seduction has always been a part of product

design, whether graphic, industrial, environmental,or electronic. For many, seduction immediatelyconnotes sex appeal or sexual enticement. But thesexual aspect is less the essence of seductions mean-ing than are enticement and appeal. While a stan-dard Websters dictionary defines seduction as theact of leading aside or astray, we feel seductionshould not be viewed in such a negative way. Web-sters does a bit better with the word seductive ashaving alluring or tempting qualities. This is far

closer to how seduction relates to design, although ithas come to mean more than that.

Most important, the design of a successful seduc-tive product or experience is not simply visual orfunctional. Seduction involves a promise and a con-nection with the audience or users goals and emo-tions. Everyday objects, like French industrialdesigner Phillipe Starcks juicer (see Figure 1) andJapanese fashion designer Issey Miyakes fashions, gobeyond mere visual innovation to spark humanemotionsespecially curiosity, surprise, and imagi-

nation. One way these objects do so is by goingbeyond the obvious and the efficient, being not onlyoriginal but more of everything than they need tobe. Whether elaborate or simple, seductive objectsneed to promise to be more than what is expected ofthem. They stimulate the imagination on many lev-els and seem to espouse values or allude to connec-tions with what a person wants to have or to be. Thecustomers imagination is where the first connectionis made.

How to Seduce

Seduction, like all emotions, is a process. It has abeginning, a middle, and an end. And while the firstand last step are momentary, the middle can bedrawn out almost indefinitely. The first step isenticementthe initial contact attracting a poten-tial customer or user. This contact may be throughadvert ising (as in the original Apple Macintosh tele-vision ad), which establishes the products tone,mood, and message. But at some point, the initialexperience with the product itself needs to entice theviewer, customer, or audience. The key to entice-ment is first to get the audiences attention, then to

make a promise. This attention-getting devicethe

interface itselfmay be loud, soft, beautiful, orugly, but it has to differentiate itself from both itscompetition and its surroundings, or environment.Only by going to an extreme of some kind can theproduct get itself noticed to begin with.

Immediately afterward, the product has to make a

promise of some kind to hold that attention. It mightbe a promise to be interesting, exciting, or beautiful,but the more closely the promise connects with thegoals and emotional aspirations of its viewers, themore deeply it begins to seduce. This connection, bythe way, is how brands are built, and promises are thecornerstones of branding. Being loud or divertingattention momentarily is not enough. If the promisedoesnt hook the customer, the product wont have anopportunity to play out its message.

Worth noting here is that because seductionworks through emotions and personal goalswhich

are different for everybodyeffective seductiveexperiences are tailored to individuals or, at least, togroups sharing a similar culture. No seductionworks on everyone without modification. The firstthree basic steps toward seduction are:

Enticement. Grab attention and make anemotional promise;

Relationship. Make progress with smallfulfillments and more promises, a step that cancontinue almost indefinitely; and

Fulfillment. Fulfill the final promises, and end theexperience in a memorable way.

The next and ultimately most important step is toreward for the attention given and a reason to investmore emotion into the experience, or the audiencewill simply leave. This step is where the quality ofinteraction design in a product is most critical, whenvisual design will have become tiresome, unlikely tobe able to differentiate itself or be new anymore.Instead, the product itself has to fulfill based on itsfunction and feel. The longer it can do this, drawing

the experience out over time, the more successful itwill be.

Think of long-running television shows, likeM*A*S*H, Seinfeld, and The Young and theRestless; they survive by continuing the emotionalengagement, making good on past promises, andmaking new ones for the future. Many automobilesdo this (so people love them so much they namethem and wont part with them). Some clothes, likelucky hats, winning jerseys, favorite shoes, and manyother types of products achieve this status in theircustomers lives, because they continually reflect

back desired attributes and performance. They

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acquire this status chieflythrough quality design,while focusing on the partsof the experience that mat-ter most to their perfor-mancethe feel of a fabric,

the fit of a garment, thestrength of a handle. Incontrast, its difficult tothink of a software productso enduring you couldntpart with it once it wassuperseded by a new ver-sion, or so elegant andwonderful to use you couldbarely wait to use it again.

Growth is another com-mon theme in seductive

relationships. As long as theuser is growing emotionallyor intellectually in some waydue to the experience, theproduct or experience willbe viewed as valuable, evenif the experience is essen-tially unchanged during thelifetime of the product. Rep-etition of this sort is notalways a concern. Consider

how often many peoplereread a favorite book orwatch a movie (Titanicis arecent example). As devotedaudiences of opera have longunderstood, just becauseyou know what happensdoesnt mean the experienceis no longer funas long asthe experience keeps deliver-ing on its promises. If theexperience constantly makes

and delivers on newpromises, all the better.

In order to identify aseductive experience, askyourself whether the prod-uct you are using or aredeveloping:

Entices you by divertingyour attention;

Surprises you with some-thing novel;

Goes beyond obvious

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Seductive Quality Philippe Starcks juicer

Entice by diverting It is unlike every other kitchen product byattention nature of its shape, form, and materials.

Deliver surprising It is not immediately identifiable as a juicer,novelty and its form is unusual enough to be

intriguing, even surprising when its purposefirst becomes clear.

Go beyond obvious To satisfy these criteriaof being surprisingneeds and expectations and novelit need only be bright orange

or all wood. It goes so far beyond what isexpected or required, it becomes somethingelse entirely.

Create an instinctive At first, the shape creates curiosity, thenresponse emotional response confusion and, perhaps,

fear, since it is so sharp and dangerous looking.

Espouse values or It transforms the routine act of juicing anconnections to orange into a special experience. Its innovativepersonal goals approach, simplicity, and elegance in shape and

performance creates an appreciation and desireto possess not only the object, but the valuesthat helped create it, including innovation,originality, elegance, and sophistication. Itspeaks as much about the person who ownsit as it does about its designer.

Promise to fulfill It promises to make an ordinary actionthese goals extraordinary. It also promises to raise the

status of the owner to a higher level ofsophistication for recognizing its qualities.

Lead the casual viewer While the juicer doesnt necessarily teachto discover something the user anything new about juice or juicing,

deeper about the juicing it does teach a lesson that even ordinaryexperience things in life can be interesting and that designcan enhance living. It also teaches to expectwonder where it is unexpectedall positivefeelings about the future.

Fulfill these promises Every time it is used, it reminds the user ofits elegance and approach to design. It fulfillsthese promises through its performance,reconjuring the emotions originally connectedwith the product. It also serves as a point ofsurprise and conversation by the associates ofits ownerand is another chance to espouseits values and have them validated.

Figure 1.

Seduction

experience with

a physical product


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needs and expectations; Creates an instinctive

emotional response; Espouses values or con-

nects to personal goals; Makes inherent

promises to fulfill thesegoals;

Leads you to discoversomething deeper thanwhat you expected; or

Fulfills small promisesrelated to your valuesand aspirations.

The final step in aseduction is to end it,although doing so is not

always necessary. How-ever, when the experienceis ending, the seductionshould not leave the audi-ence with a bad or worth-less feeling, or it will tendto caution them againstallowing themselves to beseduced in the futureunless, of course, that wasthe promise all along.

Ending a seduction suc-cessfully is like partingfrom a romantic relation-ship on good terms. Itshould always be viewed asa positive, worthwhileexperienceif the creatorof the product wants achance at seducing thesame customers again orbeing held in high regardfor having created the

experience in the firstplace. Leaving the cus-tomer with a good feelingis important for develop-ers and manufacturers forwhom customer retentionand brand strengththatis, their futureareimportant, as in Figure 1.

Seductive SoftwareWhat all this means for software developers is that

there is a base level of experience on which to draw

for improving the seductive qualities of the softwarethey developwhere appropriate, of course.

Imagine choosing software at a store (online or

physical) offering more than the obvious in both its

48 May 1999/Vol. 42, No. 5 COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM

Seductive Quality Plumbdesigns Thesaurus

Entice by diverting The inability to divert is a failure of theattention product (and the medium), as there is almost no

opportunity to divert users attention beforethey have downloaded the Java applet.

Deliver surprising The unusual interface is enticing immediately.novelty While not an original interface (there are

several examples of prior art), it is stilluncommon for most potential users.

Go beyond obvious It is long established that a thesaurusonlineneeds and expectations and in printneed not be organized this way.

Create an instinctive While this response is not the same for

emotional response everyone, sometimes it does elicit an emotionalresponse due to its visual beauty and ease of use.

Espouse values or For writers, actors, and other lovers of theconnect to English language, this thesaurus offers a lovingpersonal goals and inquisitive approach to words, encouraging

users to expand their view of word relationshipsand explore the depths and connections ofword meanings.

Make promises to Aside from the obvious goal of finding synonymsfulfill these goals and antonyms for words, the experience of

working with this thesaurus also promises aunique process, and fulfills on both promises.

Lead the casual viewer The experience of navigating via meaning mayto discover something lead people to understand that word meaning isdeeper about the more than a simple binary relationship, but aexperience multidimensional relationship in which words

have different vectors of meanings.

Fulfill these promises The experience fulfills on both promises.

Figure 2.

Seductionexperience

with a software

product


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experience and its outcome. Such software wouldcreate a seductive experience by integrating func-tionality with a visual and interactive design. Peopleoften assume quality in visual appearance, audiodesign, or other sensory traits translate into qualityin performance. Software developers can learn these

techniques from other design fields to increase usersatisfaction and create something more than isexpected by both their potential users and their com-petitors. However, the most important ingredientand a unifying element in all seductive products, nomatter which mediumis that the products cre-ators dared to care about their products and theircustomers to the extent that they willingly spent theextra time and energy needed to create somethingextraordinary.

Unfortunately, this perspective is rare, as mostdevelopers are concerned more with features, cost,

and schedules than quality, let alone extraordinaryqualities. Two examples of seductive software are theclassic Russian-developed game Tetrisand Meta-tools KPT Bryce3D terrain-generation software fordigital artists. Each represents more than its productcategory or descriptions would suggest, and each hassucceeded largely due to its seductive qualities, notmerely its features and abilities. Each also has loyalfollowers who exhibit emotional attachment to thesoftware (see Figure 2).

In the initial phases of developing software, we

recommend taking time to consider the possibilitiesand value of building in seductive elements, notmerely to enhance the visual or interactive experi-ence but to enhance the products value to customersand the place it occupies in their lives. In thatprocess, its a good idea to follow six steps:

Get to know your audience. You are developingsoftware for others, not for yourself. Discoverwhat appeals to them alreadynot only whatthey buy, but what they wish they could buy andexperience.

Search for the aspirational possibilities in yoursoftware product, that is, the opportunities tobuild meaning and emotional connections to thesoftware.

Correlate these possibilities with the possibilitiesyou find in your audience. These are your priori-ties for developing the seductive aspects of yourproduct.

Immerse yourself in examples of seductive design,allowing them to serve as inspiration for more.

Involve a visionary designer or developer. Only adeveloper who sees larger issues and expects more

meaningful experience can help guide a product

in these directions. Make quality and amazing characteristics priori-

ties among development team members. Extraor-dinary products do not invent themselves withoutmanagement support.

Wonderful vs. More of the SameSeduction is not necessarily an element in a success-ful product or experience, but it can certainlyenhance its chances. More than delivering success interms of sales, it can be a key element in making aproduct memorable and spectacular. While manytypes of software may simply not be intended forpersonal use or to be lifestyle oriented, all forms ofsoftware can adopt these techniques to differentiatethemselves from their competition. Seductionbecomes ever more possible and important as inter-faces become richer and more lifestyle-, entertain-

ment-, and consumer-oriented.While seduction is a form of persuasion, it is the

personal, intimate, and emotional that make it morecontroversial, more powerful (when done well),more culture-specific, and more focused. Seductiveexperiences are often multisensory and use broad,rich sensory media. They often include mystery andsubtle suggestion and may apply more to personalobjects and environments than to public or imper-sonal experiences.

While seemingly elusive, seduction can be

achieved through the careful integration of function-ality and visual design to create products that gobeyond a users expectations for the task at hand. Byfocusing on such seductive qualities from the begin-ning of a design process, interaction designers canlearn from the world of physical product design,architecture, filmmaking, and almost every othermedium to take software development to the nextlevel. The challenge for software (and hardware)developers is to celebrate computer technology bycreating new seductive experiences that have nophysical counterpart.

Moreover, this being a new approach to softwaredevelopmentwith little, if any, prior artwe feelthis is the moment to begin rigorous development ofdeeper hypotheses and test them to derive a lessabstract and more empirical understanding of thephenomenon of seduction.

Jul ie Khaslavsky ([email protected]) is aninteraction designer at Financial Engines in Palo Alto, Calif.Nat han Shedrof f([email protected]) is the cofounder and chiefcreative officer of Vivid Studios in San Francisco.

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understanding the seductive experience

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