Why Persuasive Design Should Be Your Next Skill Set

Polarising comment alert.<p>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.

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.<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Business-Essentials/dp/006124189X/" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Busine...</a><p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/White-Bears-Other-Unwanted-Thoughts/dp/0898622239/" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/White-Bears-Other-Unwanted-Thoughts/dp...</a>

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

leaves on the dashboard encourage more eco-friendly driving?<p>do they wilt when you accelerate too hard?

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.

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.<p>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.

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

buzzword alert!