First in the series of 100 things you should know if you are going to design an effective and persuasive website, web application or software application
A list of ten clear and effective design laws designers can use as proven formulas for better design. Very useful and definitely one to add to your favourites.
Is my design good design? Dieter Rams asked the very same question. Good design can not be measured in a finite way but here are ten principles for what Rams considered to be good design. It’s a pretty good list!
What passbook is and isn’t
A good explanation of what Apples passbook is. An interesting development when it comes to designing websites and servies for companies who use tickets.
Google recently carried out some awesome research into understanding cross platform consumer behaviour. They call it the new multiscreen world.
Google didn’t stop at the infographic you see above however, they have produced a rather nice little report that gives in depth details of their findings.
Here are some of the things I have been reading around the web this week, you might find them interesting…
UX designer launches Dark Patterns Awards You might not have heard the term ‘Dark Patterns’, but you’ve probably seen them in action: they’re the manipulative interfaces that trick users into doing things.
Nudge nudge, think think Research shows it is possible to steer people towards better decisions by presenting choices in different ways
Jakob Nielsen: Mobile Site vs. Full Site
Jakob Nielsen argues that good mobile user experience requires a different design than what’s needed to satisfy desktop users. Two designs, two sites, and cross-linking to make it all work.
Is changing peoples behaviour for the better as simple as making things fun?, Volkswagen seem to think so, they call it fun theory. The fun theory campaign, is an initiative to get people to change their behaviours, by allowing them to see how acting responsibly can be fun.
Volkswagen ran a competition which encouraged users to upload their own applications of the fun theory on thefuntheory.com. There are loads of great ideas, but a particular favourite of mine is ‘The Speed Camera Lottery‘. The idea is to not only capture people who speed on camera, but also the people who stick to the speed limit.
People who keep to the speed limit would be entered in to a lottery, and here’s the best bit, the winning pot would come from the people who were caught speeding.
As far as I can see the whole basis of fun theory is the work of B.F Skinner and his theory of operant conditioning. In a nut shell operant conditioning is a technique used to modify behaviour by reinforcing desired behaviors, and ignoring or punishing undesired behaviours.
SimplyPsychology.org notes that Skinner identified three different types of responses that can follow behaviour.
Neutral Operants: responses from the environment that neither increase nor decrease the probability of a behaviour being repeated.
Reinforcers: Responses from the environment that increase probability of a behaviour being repeated. The can either be positive or negative.
Punishers: Response from the environment that decrease the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated. Punishment weakens behaviour.
Reinforces can be both negative and positive. Skinner showed that in situations that reflect positive reinforcement, a response or behavior is strengthened by the addition of something, such as praise or a direct reward. Universal Principles of design gives the example of pulling a lever on a slot machine. This results in positive visual and auditory feedback, and a possible monitory reward. In the case of fun theory the reward is fun.
Here is another really nice example of the fun theory, the play seat belt
For me the question would be are we using operant conditioning effectively. Punishment is an effective way to rapidly extinguish a behaviour, but this is damaging to moral. We seem to be so focussed on punishment for negative behavior, that we don’t think about increasing positive behaviour.
The Fun Theory does exactly this, it rewards people for doing something good, it makes doing something good, fun, in an attempt to increase the probability of a behaviour being repeated.
My name is Drew Hajduk, I am a user experience designer with 4+ years design experience working at Code Computerlove in Manchester. I started this site as encouragement to observe, reflect and process the world around me with my creative glasses on and to serve as a record of my work.
Feel free to browse using the categories below or take a look at my design skill set. You can also check my latest work.
