Seductive Interaction Design
Creating Playful, Fun, and Effective User Experiences
Published on 30. June 2011
Book
Paperback/Softback
240 pages
978-0-321-72552-3 (ISBN)
Description
What happens when you've built a great website or app, but no one seems to care? How do you get people to stick around long enough to see how your service might be of value? In Seductive Interaction Design, speaker and author Stephen P. Anderson takes a fresh approach to designing sites and interactions based on the stages of seduction. This beautifully designed book examines what motivates people to act.
Topics include:
AESTHETICS, BEAUTY, AND BEHAVIOR: Why do striking visuals grab our attention? And how do emotions affect judgment and behavior?
PLAYFUL SEDUCTION: How do you create playful engagements during the moment? Why are serendipity, arousal, rewards, and other delights critical to a good experience?
THE SUBTLE ART OF SEDUCTION: How do you put people at ease through clear and suggestive language? What are some subtle ways to influence behavior and get people to move from intent to action?
THE GAME OF SEDUCTION: How do you continue motivating people long after the first encounter? Are there lessons to be gained from learning theories or game design?
Principles from psychology are found throughout the book, along with dozens of examples showing how these techniques have been applied with great success. In addition, each section includes interviews with influential web and interaction designers.
Topics include:
AESTHETICS, BEAUTY, AND BEHAVIOR: Why do striking visuals grab our attention? And how do emotions affect judgment and behavior?
PLAYFUL SEDUCTION: How do you create playful engagements during the moment? Why are serendipity, arousal, rewards, and other delights critical to a good experience?
THE SUBTLE ART OF SEDUCTION: How do you put people at ease through clear and suggestive language? What are some subtle ways to influence behavior and get people to move from intent to action?
THE GAME OF SEDUCTION: How do you continue motivating people long after the first encounter? Are there lessons to be gained from learning theories or game design?
Principles from psychology are found throughout the book, along with dozens of examples showing how these techniques have been applied with great success. In addition, each section includes interviews with influential web and interaction designers.
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Additional editions
E-Book
06/2011
1st Edition
New Riders
€36.99
Available for download
Stephen Anderson
Seductive Interaction Design
Creating Playful, Fun, and Effective User Experiences, Portable Document
E-Book
06/2011
1st Edition
New Riders
€36.99
Available for download
Person
Stephen P. Anderson is an internationally recognized speaker and consultant based in Dallas, Texas. He created the Mental Notes card deck, a tool that's widely used by product teams to apply psychology to interaction design. Prior to venturing out on his own, Stephen spent more than a decade building and leading teams of information architects, interaction designers, and UI developers. He's designed web applications for technology startups as well as corporate clients like Nokia, Frito-Lay, Sabre Travel Network, and Chesapeake Energy. Between public speaking and project work, Stephen offers workshops and training to help organizations manage creative teams, make use of visual thinking, and design better customer experiences.
Content
Prologue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
1 Why Seductive Interactions? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
LinkedIn and Profile Completeness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Why seduction?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
The iLike story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Beyond usability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
It's all about experiences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
SECTION ONE
Aesthetics, Beauty, and Behavior
2 Why Aesthetics? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
What's the connection? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Why aesthetics? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3 Are You Easily Understood? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Gestalt Psychology and a drinking game . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4 Are You Attractive? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
You remind me of... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Can you trust me on this?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Perceptions of time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Put it all together. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
"Attractive things work better" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Stitching it all together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5 Who Do You Remind People Of? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
Aesthetics, associations, and Apple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Advertising and coded iconic messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Positive and Negative associations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Language and associations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6 When Aesthetics Aren't Attractive . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
Curious implication 1: The good, the bad, and the ugly. . . . . 43
Curious implication 2: When utility is beautiful. . . . . . . . . 44
Curious implication 3: Context and character . . . . . . . . . . 45
Curious implication 4: Is beauty subjective? . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Closing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
7 The Power of Faces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
Leaving your friends. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
SECTION TWO
Playful Seduction
8 Are You Fun To Be Around? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
Use humor, when appropriate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
A Case for Humor: MailChimp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Why bother making someone smile? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
9 Are You Unpredictable?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63
Mixing surprise with rewards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Delighters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
My personal annual travel report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
10 Are You Stimulating? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75
Will the real Dopplr logo please stand up? . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
11 Are You Mysterious?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79
Curious marketing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Venturing into the unknown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
The information gap theory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Business application? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Specific motivation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Now what? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
12 Can People Express Themselves Around You?. . . . . . .87
SECTION THREE
The Subtle Art of Seduction
13 Small First Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93
Shaping the path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Making a commitment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Sharing places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Picking up items placed on hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Completing a travel booking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Endowed progress effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Sequencing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100
Shaping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102
14 Coming on Too Strong (and how not to!). . . . . . . . .105
Fewer options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105
Less text. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107
Fun distractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108
Creating the illusion of less by hiding information . . . . . . .110
Hacking the visual system to make things simpler . . . . . . .111
Less to think about . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112
15 Attracting Attention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Contrast and characters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116
Shh! We're hoping no one notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117
Did you see that?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118
16 The Path of Least Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Default options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119
The power of suggestion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120
Convenience and personalized recommendations. . . . . . . .122
Afraid to Let Go . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126
17 The Influence of Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Framing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131
Anchoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133
Let's get personal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134
Clear language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136
18 An Eye for Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Step one: Role-play the interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137
Step two: Script the narrative experience . . . . . . . . . . . .140
Step three: Break down compound requests into
simple next steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .140
Step four: Minimize choices (at each moment in time). . . . .141
Step five: Look for micromoments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142
Step six: Choose clicks over characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142
SECTION FOUR
The Game of Seduction
19 Real World Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Games are first and foremost about fun . . . . . . . . . . . . .149
The Elements of Game Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .153
20 A Challenge Worth Pursuing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Back to the classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155
A Real Challenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .161
A quick note on status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163
Challenges vs. goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165
Closing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167
21 Making Things Difficult . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Playing hard to get. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169
Using scarcity in commerce. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170
Using scarcity to increase quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170
Using scarcity to encourage participation . . . . . . . . . . . .172
Why scarcity works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173
Other forms of scarcity: Limited duration . . . . . . . . . . . .174
Limited access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175
Other forms of scarcity: Limited choice and calculations . . .176
22 How Are We Doing? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Unintended side effects of hypermiling . . . . . . . . . . . . .181
A little perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .182
Serious games. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183
Making a game out of e-mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183
Closing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187
23 What's the Prize?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .189
Why do game mechanics work? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .190
Performance goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .191
Are you offering your users any performance goals? . . . . . .192
The fun layer: Narrative, story, aesthetics . . . . . . . . . . . .196
Closing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .197
24 Let's Get Serious . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .199
The Kano model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
25 Only the Beginning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
The Rider and the Elephant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .205
The Behavior Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .206
A sense of purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .211
One thing everyone is doing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .211
"Show me the money!" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .214
Who's on your site?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .214
Final Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .215
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .217
1 Why Seductive Interactions? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
LinkedIn and Profile Completeness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Why seduction?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
The iLike story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Beyond usability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
It's all about experiences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
SECTION ONE
Aesthetics, Beauty, and Behavior
2 Why Aesthetics? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
What's the connection? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Why aesthetics? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3 Are You Easily Understood? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Gestalt Psychology and a drinking game . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4 Are You Attractive? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
You remind me of... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Can you trust me on this?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Perceptions of time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Put it all together. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
"Attractive things work better" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Stitching it all together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5 Who Do You Remind People Of? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
Aesthetics, associations, and Apple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Advertising and coded iconic messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Positive and Negative associations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Language and associations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6 When Aesthetics Aren't Attractive . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
Curious implication 1: The good, the bad, and the ugly. . . . . 43
Curious implication 2: When utility is beautiful. . . . . . . . . 44
Curious implication 3: Context and character . . . . . . . . . . 45
Curious implication 4: Is beauty subjective? . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Closing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
7 The Power of Faces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
Leaving your friends. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
SECTION TWO
Playful Seduction
8 Are You Fun To Be Around? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
Use humor, when appropriate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
A Case for Humor: MailChimp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Why bother making someone smile? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
9 Are You Unpredictable?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63
Mixing surprise with rewards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Delighters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
My personal annual travel report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
10 Are You Stimulating? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75
Will the real Dopplr logo please stand up? . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
11 Are You Mysterious?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79
Curious marketing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Venturing into the unknown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
The information gap theory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Business application? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Specific motivation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Now what? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
12 Can People Express Themselves Around You?. . . . . . .87
SECTION THREE
The Subtle Art of Seduction
13 Small First Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93
Shaping the path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Making a commitment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Sharing places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Picking up items placed on hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Completing a travel booking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Endowed progress effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Sequencing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100
Shaping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102
14 Coming on Too Strong (and how not to!). . . . . . . . .105
Fewer options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105
Less text. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107
Fun distractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108
Creating the illusion of less by hiding information . . . . . . .110
Hacking the visual system to make things simpler . . . . . . .111
Less to think about . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112
15 Attracting Attention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Contrast and characters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116
Shh! We're hoping no one notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117
Did you see that?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118
16 The Path of Least Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Default options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119
The power of suggestion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120
Convenience and personalized recommendations. . . . . . . .122
Afraid to Let Go . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126
17 The Influence of Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Framing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131
Anchoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133
Let's get personal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134
Clear language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136
18 An Eye for Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Step one: Role-play the interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137
Step two: Script the narrative experience . . . . . . . . . . . .140
Step three: Break down compound requests into
simple next steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .140
Step four: Minimize choices (at each moment in time). . . . .141
Step five: Look for micromoments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142
Step six: Choose clicks over characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142
SECTION FOUR
The Game of Seduction
19 Real World Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Games are first and foremost about fun . . . . . . . . . . . . .149
The Elements of Game Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .153
20 A Challenge Worth Pursuing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Back to the classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155
A Real Challenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .161
A quick note on status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163
Challenges vs. goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165
Closing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167
21 Making Things Difficult . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Playing hard to get. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169
Using scarcity in commerce. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170
Using scarcity to increase quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170
Using scarcity to encourage participation . . . . . . . . . . . .172
Why scarcity works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173
Other forms of scarcity: Limited duration . . . . . . . . . . . .174
Limited access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175
Other forms of scarcity: Limited choice and calculations . . .176
22 How Are We Doing? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Unintended side effects of hypermiling . . . . . . . . . . . . .181
A little perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .182
Serious games. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183
Making a game out of e-mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183
Closing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187
23 What's the Prize?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .189
Why do game mechanics work? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .190
Performance goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .191
Are you offering your users any performance goals? . . . . . .192
The fun layer: Narrative, story, aesthetics . . . . . . . . . . . .196
Closing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .197
24 Let's Get Serious . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .199
The Kano model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
25 Only the Beginning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
The Rider and the Elephant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .205
The Behavior Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .206
A sense of purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .211
One thing everyone is doing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .211
"Show me the money!" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .214
Who's on your site?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .214
Final Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .215
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .217