Intro to persuasion and social influence

February 25, 2011December 22, 2011Leave a comment

Many years ago, when I was a student working as a project administrator in my spare time, my manager asked me ‘If you could have any super power, what would it be?’

I thought about this and decided i’d want the power of invisibility. I guess this makes sense now, considering how much i enjoy observing and analysing human behaviour – you need to be truly invisible to not have an observer effect. My manager however decided upon the power of persuasion. He said if he had the power to persuade anyone to do anything he could do and have whatever he wanted in the world.

Luckily for us, persuasion is something that can be learned, practised and used in our daily lives. Brands leverage many principles of persuasion to convince us of their value and to purchase their product.

It is no coincidence that the Loreal adverts now show Cheryl Cole as their brand ambassador. She is officially the most liked female in the uk. People are more likely to trust her and be persuaded by her as she has a very high ‘Like’ factor. She also provides ‘social proof’ however there is more resistance now to celebrity social proof as people look more towards their peers for advice.

Sites such as makeup alley (shown below) rely on social proof to work. Users can read what their peers think of products, they can see the rating they gave it, what percentage of people would buy the product and importantly, they can see that the people are real.

Companies often use scarcity to act faster or pay more. Below is an example from a website that sells bedroom furniture. They use both limited time free delivery and a limited number of free drills to try to persuade the customer to purchase their products soon, otherwise they will miss out. People have a fear of loss so the thought of potentially losing something that is ‘free’ (another motivator) can be enough to get them to act.

We all look to experts for advice and recommendations. Even amongst our peers, we have experts who we turn to for advice. For example, if you need a new TV you might ask cousin John as he always knows a lot about entertainment systems. Or if your cat is ill, you might ask your friend Sarah for advice as she’s got 3 cats and is cat crazy! Each person is highly persuasive in their own way.

Persuasion is a fascinating subject area and i’ll be covering it in more depth in future posts, in particular how you can design to persuade.

ROI of User Experience

February 11, 2011December 22, 20111 Comment

The Return On Investment (ROI) for companies that include user experience in their process can be enormous. Here are some facts from the IEEE:

15% of all IT projects fail due to being inadequate.

50% of developer time is spent on avoidable rework.

£1 before dev >>> £100 after dev. The cost of fixing something after development is 100 times more than before development. Include user experience as soon as possible!

Watch the video:

Wikipedia to have a usability makeover

January 15, 2011Leave a comment

The founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, has admitted that contributing content to the site is too difficult and that it is effecting the growth of the website and also the types of users who contribute.

When formatting articles on Wikipedia, the user is faced with complicated code, known as a wiki mark-up. This is very intimidating for the standard user who will often exit at this point. This leaves only the Wiki ‘expert users’ contributing and alienates other users who may not be as technically savvy.

“If you click edit and you see some Wiki syntax and some bizarre table structure – a lot of people are literally afraid. They’re good people and they don’t want to break something,” Jimmy Sales told the bbc.

Wikipedia, the world’s fifth most popular site, want to grow their user base from 400m to 1.5bm by 2015, they also want to attract more female contributors. They recognise that they can’t grow unless they redesign their interface to be more easy to use. One of the ways in which they plan to do this is by introducing more WYSIWYG tools (what you see is what you get).

It’s great to see Wikipedia recognising their usability issues and addressing them. Hopefully other companies will see this as an example of how good user interface design can actually increase your number of users and grow your business. It’s not all about marketing!

Book Review: It’s not how good you are, it’s how good you want to be

January 14, 2011October 27, 201219 Comments

Oh gosh, I didn’t realise it had been this long since my last post… I WILL post more this year! Which brings me nicely onto my first book read of the year which i just finished yesterday (it actually arrived yesterday too which shows you how quick this one is to read!). It’s a very good motivational kick up the backside book to get you going for the new year and it’s called It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be by Paul Arden.

It’s small, easy to read, lots of pictures to break it up and handbag sized which is handy because this is just the kind of book you should always have handy as a quick motivator. I don’t want to spoil the book for you, but here is a sneak preview of some of the tips.

Don’t seek praise, seek criticism

This is one I champion. You can only grow as a person and a business if you ask for honest opinions, digest them and work out how you can make it better next time. None of us are perfect and we probably never will be, but we can all make an effort to work towards being better than we currently are. Take risks, accept new challenges, create goals and definitely seek criticism. People find it much easier to give praise than criticism so you will need to seek it out and accept it enthusiastically, no running out the room crying (I’ve heard of this happen a few times!).

Getting fired can be a positive career move

The book points out that this can be an opportunity to try something new and that it probably meant you and the company weren’t right for each other in the first place. I think as long as you were fired for the right reasons and not for anything bad, then it can definitely be a good thing. When I was made redundant I was personally overjoyed to be able to get out of the rut and try something new. These events are massive opportunities and it’s up to you what you make of them. I’m now working for myself, have masses of creative freedom and i’m also working on my own business projects.

Don’t be afraid of silly ideas

We all get mental blocks and Arden says the best way to get out of these blocks is to lose your inhibitions and to stop worrying about being right. He suggests doing the opposite of what the solution requires and choosing the next thing you see out of the window as the solution to your problem. There is an example which shows a very popular wine called ‘Fat bastard chardonnay’. It was an international success primarily due to it’s unusual and eye catching name. It certainly stands out from the rest!

Well I hope this has provided you with some extra oomph for 2011. Thankyou very much for continuing to read this blog and I wish you all the very best for 2011. Keep it simple, keep it usable people!

Not everybody can be as badass as Steve Jobs…

September 23, 2010Leave a comment

…but an exceptional product needs a clear vision, solid user research, an experienced designer and a management willing to take some risks.

my favourite excerpt from this great user experience article by Oliver Reichenstein

Use your skills to help others AND be happier

September 11, 2010Leave a comment

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I’ve recently been helping a local campaign www.keephopematernityopen.com to keep a much loved and needed local maternity unity open. We created for them a logo, brand, website, posters and sorted out their social media. I’ve really enjoyed being involved and helping out a good cause which is why i’m writing this post.

I’m one of those people who actively avoids people with clipboards in the street. You know they want your money and you know that as soon as you stop to talk to them you won’t be able to say no (it’s that or you feel guilty and horrid for the rest of the day). So you avoid eye contact, cross the street, pretend to talk on your mobile, anything to avoid them!

Whereas helping a charity or a campaign directly, being engaged and seeing the results of your efforts is a completely different and more fulfilling experience. According to research by Harvard Business School (2009) ‘giving makes people happier, such that happiness and giving may operate in a positive feedback loop (with happier people giving more, getting happier, and giving even more)’. I guess that’s why Scrooge is so miserable despite all his money!

You don’t need to give a lot and it needn’t take up much of your time. We’re all good at something. Why not offer your skill to a local charity and see how you get on. They’ll probably be more grateful than any of the clients you’ve ever worked with and you’ll feel much more satisfaction.

What’s on your ux bookshelf?

August 3, 2010December 22, 20113 Comments

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I’m a bookworm. My boyfriend has even nicknamed me ‘The Bookinator’. So it figures that I have a fair few usability, ux, psychology and design books on my bookshelf. In the photo below are just some of my ux books (they don’t all fit on my bookcase!).

I’d recommend for ux beginners:

Don’t Make Me Think!: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability
Excellent introduction to usability explained simply with clear and fun diagrams. Short book that you can read in a couple of hours.

My personal favourite:

Neuro Web Design: What Makes Them Click? (Voices That Matter)
Very clever techniques for web design. Uses lots of persuasion principles and social proofing elements. I have about 20 post-it notes stuck in this one!

Prettiest book:

Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands
This book is beautiful. Large inspiring pictures, brilliant graphic design work, key points easy to identify… The only downside is the book’s message seems to be duplicated quite a lot within the content. It’s still a joy to dip into and has good examples to demonstrate the points it makes.

I wish I hadn’t bought:

Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics Methods
Warning! This book will bore the pants off you. It’s written in the most long winded technical manner that aims to bore even the most devoted ux professional.

The book i’ve had the longest:

Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour
This book is like an old friend. It’s been with me since university and has all the damage to prove it, including lots of crinkley pages where my old uni windowsill leaked all over it. This book saw me through my coursework and exams and I just find the content fascinating. Timeless.

So that’s what’s on my ux bookshelf. Now it’s your turn.
What’s on your ux bookshelf?

Chicken and Egg by Kai Brunner

July 16, 2010Leave a comment

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Great video. I especially like the part which shows a frustrated user using a bad website 😉

Influence through storytelling

July 5, 2010July 5, 20101 Comment

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Simply an amazing and inspiring presentation. Watch it.

10 Handy hints to check a ux agency or freelancer is genuine

June 11, 2010December 22, 20115 Comments

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As UX and usability become more well known, there is an unfortunate downside for clients and that is cowboys. These are people who have perhaps read a UX book and decide to set themselves up as experts. To help you spot the expert from the amateur i’ve created some handy hints. You don’t need to do all of these, just enough to satisfy you that the agency or freelancer knows their stuff and is genuine.

1. Check out their website Is it easy to use? Does it have clear call to actions? Are they using good copywrite? Does the layout of the text aid scanability? Is the navigation clear? Is the font readable? They should be practicing what they preach. If the site is badly designed, alarm bells should ring.

2. Read the About Us section Are they easily identifiable? (photo and name), Can you check their reputation and credibility via links to LinkedIn or Twitter? Read their experience closely – do they have professional qualifications and experience or are they a marketing company who have read a few books on the subject?

3. Check their Twitter posts Do they contribute to the world of usability by tweeting useful links? Do they help other people? Do they seem credible?

4. Check their Twitter followers Are they following and been followed by thousands of people? (they may have been on a mass following mission). Check who’s following them – if there are other agencies and usability professionals following them, they probably post good, knowledgeable tweets.

5. Read testimonials Get a feel for the type of person they are and how they work by what other clients thought.

6. Look at their previous work Ask to see their portfolio. This will give you a good idea of the standard of their work and what they are capable of.

7. Read their blog Owning and updating a blog deserves credit. It takes a lot of time and effort and shows it is important to them to give back to the profession. You can get a feel for the person and what they’re passionate about by what they write and the style they use.

8. Check their Facebook page How many people have joined their page? What have people posted on the wall?

9. Engage with them Email or talk to them. Prepare your questions if necessary.

10. Meet them Prepare your questions and more importantly see if you get along, after all, none of us want to work with people who we don’t click with.