Persuasive Design Articles & Videos

  • Trustworthiness in Web Design: 4 Credibility Factors

    The methods that people use to determine trustworthiness on the web have remained stable throughout the years, even with changing design trends.

  • Fresh Start Effect: How to Motivate Users with New Beginnings

    Clean slates encourage people to pursue their goals. Designers can leverage this tendency by adjusting message timing and content.

  • Perceived Value in User Interfaces

    The perceived value of a site represents the benefit that users expect to derive from using it. High expectations make users more likely to engage with the site.

  • Hierarchy of Trust: The 5 Experiential Levels of Commitment

    Sites must meet users' basic trust needs before they demand that visitors enter information or engage with them. The trust pyramid has 5 distinct levels of user commitment, each with separate design requirements before users will give a website what it wants.

  • Emotional Design Fail: I'm Divorcing My Nest Thermostat

    In an emotional-design fail, the Nest thermostat let me down: behaviorally, reflectively, and finally viscerally.

  • A Link is a Promise

    The words in a link label make a strong suggestion about the page that is being linked to. The destination page should fulfill what the anchor text promises.

  • The 'Liking' Principle in User Interface Design

    People prefer to say “yes” to individuals and organizations they know and like. Same goes for websites and other user interfaces.

  • Social Proof in the User Experience

    People are guided by other people’s behavior, so we can represent the actions, beliefs, and advice of the crowd in a design to influence users.

  • Scarcity Principle: Making Users Click RIGHT NOW or Lose Out

    Feeling that there is only one chance can convince people to take action sooner, sometimes without careful consideration of consequences or alternative options.

  • Login Walls Stop Users in Their Tracks

    Demanding that users register or log in before they can use an app or see website information has high interaction cost and defies the reciprocity principle.

  • The Reciprocity Principle: Give Before You Take in Web Design

    Humans tend to return good deeds: use this social psychology law in user interface design to gain users’ trust and motivate engagement with your site or app.

  • The Halo Effect

    The "halo effect" is when one trait of a person or thing is used to make an overall judgment of that person or thing. It supports rapid decisions, even if biased ones.

  • Four Dangerous Navigation Approaches that Can Increase Cognitive Strain

    Some navigation implementations risk pushing users into a state of cognitive strain which lessens the likelihood of them taking desirable actions.

  • Bylines for Web Articles?

    Should you say who wrote the content on your site? Sometimes yes (for credibility), sometimes no (for brevity). And rarely in mobile.

  • Non-Profit Organization Websites: Increasing Donations and Volunteering

    Giving money on charity websites is 7% more difficult than spending money on ecommerce sites. Donating physical items is even harder. For non-profit websites, social media is secondary; the top priority is to write clearer content.

  • Reduce Bounce Rates: Fight for the Second Click

    Different traffic sources imply different reasons for why visitors might immediately leave your site. Design to keep deep-link followers engaged through additional pageviews.

  • After the Buy Button in E-Commerce

    The best way for e-commerce sites to increase subsequent orders is to treat customers well after they place their initial order.

  • Persuasive Design: New Captology Book

    Review of B.J. Fogg's new Persuasive Technology book, which provides useful principles on how to think about creating persuasive design, but rarely gives detailed design guidelines. The exception is a section on enhancing website credibility.

  • Reputation Managers are Happening

    Epinions and Google join eBay in maintaining independent ratings of the quality of products, websites, and auction sellers, leading to better customer service and helping users make informed buying decisions.

  • Trust or Bust: Communicating Trustworthiness in Web Design

    The Web is turning into a low-trust society, hurting the honest sites. Site design can communicate trustworthiness in several ways, though ultimately the customer's actual experience is what matters.