Technology is not neutral! They positively or negatively influence us humans. Why? Because we use them. We use phones and a couple of apps per day. Techcrunch the North American organisation that conducts analysis on emerging technologies in businesses, reported that on average every person uses nine apps a day. The way these apps are designed influences the way we think and feel. Why doesn't my grandma care about the number of likes on my latest post on Instagram but I do? It's because Instagram, Facebook, has created a mental model for us. A model that taught us over time what is desirable. Or think of Uber. Twelve years ago we planned our trips differently especially Friday nights when if we have a few drinks and don't want to drive, we know we have an option. We even plan our day considering we have Uber. Uber has created significant new ways of travelling for us, where we can go cashless and still commute to our destination.
Image source: Freepik/master1305
Media technology like poster campaigns and advertisements always played a significant role in influencing human mind. After technology became interactive, the big potential to influence behaviour has increased. The trend in digital technology is shifting. Until the early 1980s, the foci was to make technologies functional. Solve functional needs through computers. From the early 1980s till 2000s the emphases is shifted in making things usable. This practice changed when social scientists and qualitative researchers entered computer science. There came the added discussions on experience on top of usability. Indeed, the industry realised the need for experience design. Very few know about the extended computer science work in Persuasive System Design (PSD). From 2002 till 2008, groundbreaking work came through BJ Fogg and Harri Oinas-Kukkonen. Technology is so omnipresent that persuasive design can reach to almost all users. This third layer of depth in systems design is still underutilised in Australia.
Psychological and social theories are often very broad and not adapted to system design practice. The field of persuasive design is developing its own frameworks. In computer science, the discipline of Persuasive System Design encompass intentionally designing a software, product, process, service in such a way to enable an attitude or behaviour change.
Psychological theories tell us how to increase user acceptance of new systems but DO NOT tell you how to design the system to help the users to achieve their goals. That's where computer scientists developed the PSD. PSD offers a competitive advantage; that's why Facebook, Google and Amazon are utilising PSD. Fortunately, I have worked and collaborated with two pioneers of the persuasive system design model. In this article, I will introduce you to seven simple persuasive system design strategy with examples.
These are
- Reduction
- Rehearsal
- Liking
- Rewards
- Social Learning
- Social Comparison
- Endorsement
1. Reduction
Reduction is a strategy that reduces complex behaviour into a simple task. It then helps a person to perform a target behaviour that is desirable by them.
Example:
Consider a smoking cessation application, where the users want help in being convinced to reduce the number of times they smoke. An interactive button shows the user how much money they will save from smoking one less time a day. Next, with visualised data, the user is shown the impact on the environment. Although the user had read from advertisements or health statistics all the same information, the process of clicking one button to see the effects creates engagement and autonomy. The calculated savings does not make the user do extra tasks; instead, it provides a scenario which is hard to think of and visualise. Please contact me or my teammates so I can point you to significant research studies that haven't made the industry yet, using persuasive design for smoking.
When to implement?
When users are unable to comprehend and relate to a complex set of tasks.
2.Rehearsal
Rehearsal is a persuasive strategy where an interactive system provides the user with the option to practice a specific behaviour. It's all in the name. Rehearsal creates an environment to practice something until it turns into a routine task.
Example 1:
Consider a game that pilots play where they have to control their flights through extreme weather. There could be additional challenges of failure of autopilot, and failure of communication. Playing this game in a virtual world will reduce the shock response on a pilot's central nervous system during a real-world situation if that occurs. Several airlines are using these techniques in flight simulators.
Example 2:
Imagine you are designing for a healthy eating habit—design of an interactive game where you scroll and skip between images of unhealthy food. You choose the healthy ones over the unhealthy option to softly train how to choose. Practising this in a virtual game later creates the neurological pathways in the brain of the user to make this decision faster, in real life.
When to implement?
When users need to interact in challenging situations and as a result, require practice.
3. Liking
Creating attractiveness increases liking, which influences persuasion. The principle of liking initally was introduced in Dr Cialdini's influence model.
Example:
Consider a web and mobile application that aims at encouraging children to take care of their pets. This website uses pictures of adorable animals. The photos need to be visually appealing to create a liking. The likeness of the images will increase the more extended use of the product. Then, on top of that, we can add other persuasive strategies. There are more than 200 research studies that use liking as a principle and have successfully persuaded people. Contact us to get details of that research.
When to implement?
When users need to empathise and understand a case or cause before taking action.
4. Rewards
Rewarding certain target behaviours of users facilitates the practice of that behaviour. This encouragement over a long time builds attitudinal or behavioural changes.
Example:
Consider a fitness program. A heart rate monitor provides users with a virtual trophy when they follow their fitness program. There are daily goals and rewards. Then there are weekly rewards for managing their weekly performance. The rewards could be virtual e.g., equivalent to using advanced features of the app or other virtual utilities online. Often, people talk about rewards when they talk about gamification. The depth of gamification hasn't yet been demonstrated in the industry in Australia. I have heard people talk about gamification which simply means they are talking about one technique of PSD which is rewards. Lots to improve here!
When to implement?
When users need to feel motivated to do a monotonous task or a task they know they should do but do not feel like doing.
5. Social Learning
Users are more motivated to perform a target action if they can use a system to observe other people doing the same activity.
Example:
A shared fitness journal influences other users to be aware and embark on a plan of being fit. YouTube provides a great example of social learning where people share their journeys. A fitness product can embed such a shared fitness journal that users could follow and be influenced to start exercising.
When to implement?
For those users who do not adopt new ideas until they see others doing it.
6. Social Comparison
Motivation increases to perform target behaviour if users can compare with other participants on the same journey.
Example:
A function to share the information on how much energy users have been able to save. They are encouraging turning off unused devices at nights or whilst on vacation.
When to implement?
When users are unaware of the impact of a target behaviour until they can compare it in a contextualised setting, this step is usually an incremental step after social learning.
7. Endorsement
Users have a higher motivation to use a product or service when they see endorsements from respected resources. This endorsement builds credibility to use the system and motivates users.
Example:
Consider customers of a mental wellbeing application. Customers will build trust with the product if they know that this product has an endorsement from a psychologist with years of research as opposed to an application built in someone's garage. This endorsement increases confidence to continue to use the product longer.
When to implement?
When users are looking for credibility about the product that you are offering.
So, when to use what?
One strategy DOES NOT fit all. In this article I have shown only seven of the twenty-eight PSD strategies. Each strategy can then be implemented in at least two ways which makes us get at least fifty strategies! You have to understand your users and customers to choose the approach that aligns with their goals. Else, this won't be persuasion, this will be manipulation.
Why do we need PSD?
Let's pick a case. The traditional way of informing people about health benefits or risks are by showing fearful data. That's where scary photographs of people with lungs, skin and teeth diseases appear on cigarette packages. The usual way media, advertisements and even mobile apps reach to people are to make them scared. However, there are various groups of people. People who are unaware of consequences, and then people who are aware of implications but needs support in their journey. Fearful campaign leaves out the people that are aware but are unable to practice the intended behaviour. PSD helps us enable these people to help them change that attitude or behaviour. Also, humans judge humans. But technologies don't. That's where persuasive technologies have a promise. I have researched with type 2 diabetes where patients don't like their partners or children telling them what to eat and what not. But they didn't mind hearing that from a technology.
Majority of the industry is still trying to do basic digital experiences and completely unaware of the deeper levels of design that can be addressed via PSD.
Technology is not neutral! They either positively or negatively influence us. Why not use the power of persuasive design to provide positive outcomes for people and then for your business?
