On Jul 7, 2008, at 7:39 AM, Peter Merholz wrote:
The primary value that we as designers bring to business is the
ability to create design interventions that encourage people to
behave in ways that are both in the interest of user and in the
interest of the business. Such efforts require persuasion.
In an attention economy, every business offering, be it a product or
service, needs to persuade people that it is worth their time.
Interaction design is a primary tool for that.
Exactly! Design is an inherently persuasive activity, particularly if
you follow the humanist rhetorical perspective of design, based upon
classical argument...which is just persuading people! :-) And the
perils of the Attention Economy reveals powerfully why (interaction /
interface) design as a "persuasive art" is more critical now then ever
before--for businesses and people alike. Especially as digital
experiences proliferate and expand from desktop to mobile to kiosk
to... whatever else. The iTunes ecosystem (imho) is a brilliant
example of how the simple, central argument of "digital music
lifestyle" has permeated their visual, digital, and product design and
marketing messaging (all driven by design) persuading people to adopt
Apple's offerings and become loyal to it (altho some of it is due to
technical lock-in, etc. ;-) hey, that's part of the persuasion too!
All deliberately designed/choreographed to fit into seamless whole.
I touch upon rhetorical persuasion in a boxesandarrows article about
rich digital product experiences: http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/what-does-rich-mean
And of course Dick Buchanan has a far better explanation of this
viewpoint:
http://id.bobulate.com/readings/gooddesign.pdf
Enjoy...
Uday Gajendar
Sr. Interaction Designer
Voice Technology Group
Cisco | San Jose
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