The document discusses strategies for designing engaging digital products and content. It emphasizes using psychology and seduction rather than just usability to attract and retain users. Specific techniques mentioned include adding fun elements like points, levels and challenges; surprising users with unexpected or novel information tailored to their interests; and making products meaningful by showing how they can improve people's lives. The document advocates experimenting with these engagement strategies and reverse engineering what makes other successful products fun and interesting to users.

1. SXSW
TAKEAWAYS

2. THE ART & SCIENCE MAKING CONTENT
OF SEDUCTIVE RELEVANT TO ME
INTERACTIONS HERE & NOW
SXSW
CONTENT DESIGN FOR
STRATEGY FTW! AWARENESS
INTERACTIVE
INFOGRAPHICS

3. MAKE IT FUN
MAKE IT INTERESTING
MAKE IT MEANINGFUL

4. YOU HAVE A
PRODUCT

5. YOU HAVE A
PRODUCT
(A GREAT PRODUCT AT THAT)

7. + DOES FINE IN USABILITY TESTS
+ NO OBVIOUS PROBLEMS

8. + DOES FINE IN USABILITY TESTS
+ NO OBVIOUS PROBLEMS

9. + DOES FINE IN USABILITY TESTS
+ NO OBVIOUS PROBLEMS
— LOW ADOPTION
— DOESN’T STAND OUT
FROM COMPETITION

10. + DOES FINE IN USABILITY TESTS
+ NO OBVIOUS PROBLEMS
“I’m a great product,
— LOW ADOPTION
if you’d just get
— DOESN’T STAND OUT
to know me!”
FROM COMPETITION

11. HOW DO WE...
+ GET PEOPLE TO SPEND MORE THAN
2 MINUTES WITH OUR PRODUCTS
+ INCREASE OUR AUDIENCE
+ STAND OUT FROM THE
COMPETITION
?

12. SEDUCTION
The process of enticing a person
to engage in some kind of behavior.

14. MYSTERIOUS

15. MYSTERIOUS
“GOOD
LOOKING”

16. MYSTERIOUS
“GOOD
LOOKING”
WAYYY
DIFFERENT

17. MAKE IT FUN

18. PEOPLE DON’T LIKE

19. PEOPLE DON’T LIKE

20. BUT PEOPLE DO LIKE... iLIKE

21. WHY DO WE LIKE iLIKE?
+ IT’S WAY MORE FUN TO CLICK ‘iLIKE’
THAN IT IS TO TYPE OUT
YOUR FAVORITE ARTISTS
Recognition
vs. recall
(recognition wins!)
+ CURIOSITY
+ VISUAL IMAGERY
+ PATTERN RECOGNITION

22. BUT WAIT — THERE’S MORE!
That’s me!
LEVELS!
Must get
to the
highest
one!
Check
out my
A quiz
winning
about how
streak! I
well I know
better
music?
play more
YOU’RE
to boost
ON!
my score!

23. iLIKE ... TO BRAG ABOUT IT

24. iLIKE ... TO BRAG ABOUT IT
If you play long enough,
you might just become a
“Music Expert” (Like me)

25. iLIKE ... TO BRAG ABOUT IT
If you play long enough,
you might just become a
“Music Expert” (Like me)
Challenge your friends

26. THAT WAS FUN!
BUT WHY DOES THIS WORK?
+ SENSORY EXPERIENCE
+ POINTS
+ LEVELS
+ CHALLENGES
+ DATA THAT IS RELEVANT TO ME

27. IT’S NOT USABILITY....
IT’S PSYCHOLOGY

28. WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT PEOPLE:

29. CURIOUS???

30. CURIOUS???
Me!

31. MAKE IT INTERESTING

32. DOPPLR
“Dopplr surprised me with
information about myself I didn’t
know I wanted. Now I’m a loyal
Dopplr user.”

33. DOPPLR

34. DOPPLR

35. WHY DOES DOPPLR WORK?
+ IT’S FUN & PLAYFUL BY DESIGN
+ PATTERN RECOGNITION
+ GIFTING OF USEFUL REPORTS &
RECOMMENDATIONS

36. WHAT DOES THE BRAIN FIND INTERESTING?
+ SURPRISE
+ NOVELTY
+ THE UNEXPECTED
+ FUN, PLAYFULNESS & HUMOR
+ VISUALS

37. NOW WHAT?

38. FINDING OUT WHAT
WORKS...
REVERSE ENGINEER.
THAT WAS WHY WAS
AHA!
FUN! THAT FUN?

39. NOW...
EXPERIMENT
(IF IT DOESN’T WORK,
YOU CAN ALWAYS CHANGE IT)

40. YONI BLOCH — INTERLUDE

41. MTV AWARDS

42. NYT’S SNOWBOARD HALFPIPE TRICK LIBRARY

43. NBC’S OLYMPICS TWITTER VISUALIZATION

44. OLYMPICS — WATER CONSUMPTION

45. ROOM & BOARD — SHOW SOME PERSONALITY

46. NYT — TIMESCAST

47. MAKE IT MEANINGFUL

48. QUICKEN BEFORE — GIVE US $$$
Usability
is fine.
But
WHY
would
people
want to
use this
product?

49. MINT — HOW CAN WE HELP YOU?
Mint
SHOWS
how its
services
can
improve
your life.
Product
design
seduces
users.

50. QUICKEN NOW — WE’RE JUST LIKE MINT!

51. CRIMESPOTTING — WHERE’S THE CRIME
IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD?

52. HURRICANE STRENGTH

53. NYT’S TOXIC WATERS

54. HUNCH — FIND OUT SOMETHING
NEW ABOUT YOURSELF

55. SPRINKLE IN SOME
CONTEXT

56. “Consumers want the
least amount of
THE FUTURE
information to OF CONTEXT
understand what’s
going on.”
“People look for a
personal voice.
Give it to them.”
“Gaming is a part of the new
method of spreading
information.”

57. “EPISODIC NEWS” DOES
NOT FIT OUR TIME, OR
OUR TECHNOLOGY
“Episodic news is bass ackward,” — Matt Thompson
For first time we have a medium that’s
capable of supporting systemic and episodic
information at one time. We’re not
constrained by time.

58. THE MONEY MELTDOWN — BREAK IT DOWN

59. THE CITY IS A PLATFORM
SeeClickFix — FIX YOUR CITY

60. THE CITY IS A PLATFORM
MAYNOR LABS — MAKE YOUR IDEAS HAPPEN

61. THE END
GO MAKE SOMETHING ENGAGING