This document discusses the importance of consumer experience over usability alone in online interactions. It explains that 79% of consumers will deepen their relationship with a brand after a good online experience, while 59% will stop doing business after a bad one. It also notes that initial customer relationships are increasingly formed online without salespeople. The document then covers the concepts of persuasion, emotion, and trust, and how six principles of influence can be used in design. It argues that usability is now expected but not a differentiator, and that emotion affects perceived usability. Finally, it suggests measuring persuasion by tracking customers through different cognitive stages like engaged, persuaded and committed online journeys.

1. Engineering Persuasion, Emotion & Trust
The Strategy of Persuasive Design
Robert Gillham
19th April 2011

2. Why Consumer Experience (as opposed to ‘usability’) is Important
79% of consumers will commit to a deeper brand
relationship – through product or service adoption – after a
satisfying online experience
59% of customers will stop doing business with the brand
after just one bad experience in any channel
IBM customer study
2

3. Initial relationship-building is increasingly in the hands of the customer
Online &
Salesman Store Self-serve
3

4. Is a “rational” person a cool, unemotional user of logic?
4

5. Persuasion, Emotion & Trust?
Persuasion Emotion Trust
• Communication • Defined loosely as • To have faith or
intended to induce a physiological confidence in
belief or action state of arousal something or
• Process of guiding • Triggered by someone
someone toward beliefs about
the adoption of an something
idea, attitude, or • Has cognitive,
action by rational physiological,
and symbolic social, and
means behavioural
• Not coercive aspects
5

6. “Six Weapons of Influence”
• Reciprocity
• Commitment
Consistency
• Social Proof
• Authority
• Liking
• Scarcity
Robert B. Cialdini “Influence: The Psychology of
6
Persuasion”

7. • Reciprocity
• Commitment
Consistency
• People tend to return a
• Social Proof favour
• Authority
• Liking
• Scarcity
7

8. • Reciprocity
• Commitment
Consistency • People behave more
• Social Proof
consistently when they have
• Authority
committed to something
• Liking
• Scarcity
8

9. • Reciprocity
• Commitment
Consistency • People are more likely to do
• Social Proof
what everyone else is doing
• Authority
• Liking
• Scarcity
9

10. • Reciprocity
• Commitment
Consistency • People will obey perceived
• Social Proof
figures of authority
• Authority
• Liking
• Scarcity
10

11. • Reciprocity
• Commitment
Consistency
• People are more likely to buy
• Social Proof
from people they like
• Authority
• Liking
• Scarcity
11

12. • Reciprocity
• Commitment
• Goods become more valuable as
Consistency
they become scare and we
• Social Proof compete for them
• Authority
• Liking
• Scarcity
12

13. Why is Persuasive Design a Challenge for UX?
13

14. Usability is only a hygienic factor
• ‘Easy to use’ is something consumers always ask for
• But it’s not a competitive advantage – it’s becoming a given
• ‘Usability’ doesn’t persuade (but the lack of it can disuade!)
14

15. Emotion influences perceived usability
Once a consumer feels positively (or negatively) about a product or
service, their emotional reaction influences the perceived
importance of small usability issues
15

16. Consumers don’t have sufficient insight to help
• Pantyhose Study by Nisbett and Wilson
12% 17% 31% 40%
“This pair is sheerer”
“I think this pair is better made.”
16

17. Measuring Persuasion Through Conversion
17

18. Measuring Persuasion: How do people think about
a new online banking proposition?
18

19. Measuring Persuasion: Task flow on the banking site
Choose a
Enter Site Browse & Start Commit to Converted
conversion
Explore “Checkout” Convert Visitor
path
Unengaged Unpersuaded Unconverted

20. Measuring Persuasion: The traditional view - X visitors in, Y visitors out
Common Conversion
Choose a
Enter Site Browse & Start Commit to Converted
conversion
Explore “Checkout” Convert Visitor
path

21. Measuring Persuasion: Start measuring from a meaningful point
Common Conversion
Engaged Conversion
Choose a
Enter Site Browse & Start Commit to Converted
conversion
Explore “Checkout” Convert Visitor
path

22. Measuring Persuasion: Distinguish between different cognitive stages
Common Conversion
Engaged Conversion
Committed Conversion
Choose a
Enter Site Browse & Start Commit to Converted
conversion
Explore “Checkout” Convert Visitor
path

23. Summary
• Human beings make decisions based on emotional responses as well
as rational thought processes
• Usability governs whether or not people can complete a task
• Persuasion, emotion & trust determines whether they will do it
• Psychological principles give us a framework for thinking about
persuasive design solutions
• Persuasion can be thought about in terms of conversion – but only if we
break it down and think about conversion as a series of persuasive
steps

24. Thank You!
24 BBC World Service - Chinese