

Why Persuasive Design Should Be Your Next Skill Set - innovate
http://uxmag.com/design/why-persuasive-design-should-be-your-next-skill-set

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drpancake
Polarising comment alert.

I find it so hard to relate to HCI and UX as fields. I mean, do real designers
creating great products actually subscribe to this theorising or do they just
get on with it? I'm probably completely naive about all of this, but from the
outside it looks like a lot of talking and a lack of doing.

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duopixel
I'm a designer and I understand what you mean. There are two different things
going on here...

1\. Design also has its own "architecture astronauts", people who theorize a
lot but don't get things done. They are usually in academia, since there are
not many companies willing to pay for design astronauting.

2\. Design, despite being more closely related to engineering, is usually
expressed from the perspective of art. That's why I think most programmers
have problems getting a grasp of it. The reasons are mainly historical, but
fortunately people are paying more attention to more rational approaches to
design (Tufte, Krug).

To me it seems the author is trying to overreach the scope of UX (when it's
already huge) with vague ideas of where it should head.

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rimantas
Regarding #1: for some reason this is exaggerated in UX and especially IA
fields. I unsubscribed from IA mailing lists because most of the traffic there
was argument what IA is and what it is not.

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arkitaip
Two great research oriented books on the topic of persuasion and behavior
modification are "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion" and "White Bears
and Other Unwanted Thoughts". Highly recommend them for people looking for
more than opinions over overviews.

[http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-
Busine...](http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Business-
Essentials/dp/006124189X/)

[http://www.amazon.com/White-Bears-Other-Unwanted-
Thoughts/dp...](http://www.amazon.com/White-Bears-Other-Unwanted-
Thoughts/dp/0898622239/)

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hluska
I would give anything to get access to an fMRI and show participants these
'examples of persuasive design' while they are hooked up to it.

Much of the literature on persuasive design suggests that the persuasion
happens in the cerebral cortex. Neuroscience has shown that persuasion happens
a whole lot deeper, in some very primitive parts of our brains. I'd love to
see how brains 'light up' when they're confronted with some of these designs!

If anyone has any resources on fMRI research into persuasive design, I'd be
the happiest geek alive.

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innovate
this team at Caltech is doing interesting research along these lines:
<http://www.rnl.caltech.edu/research/index.html>

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hluska
Thanks so much for that link - I owe you!

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dominictarr
leaves on the dashboard encourage more eco-friendly driving?

do they wilt when you accelerate too hard?

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falcolas
In the last hybrid I got a ride in, if you were drawing too heavily on the gas
engine, the console backlighting would go from a soothing bluish-green to an
angry red. Rather dramatic feedback, but I could feel myself responding to it
- and I was a passenger.

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lupatus
That color scheme may backfire though...

Seeing the color red increases testosterone production in men, which might
then in turn increase the aggressive driving behavior.

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blueskittle
Another example of this in action is the little fly or bee that you see on
some urinals. This design element persuades its users to take a desirable
action; in this case, to pee more accurately.

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brlewis
On the blackberry browser, their "subscribe" and "popular" boxes float over
the text and won't go away. This persuaded me to hit the back button.

Too bad, since I changed the design of my registration page recently and
increased sign-ups. I'm eager to learn more but will have to wait 'til I'm at
my desk.

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tlow
Am I the only one who thinks BJ Fogg is completely full of it?

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ricardobeat
buzzword alert!

