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

clare@nilehq.com