Some additional thoughts. I don't see any issues when we design something that simply support existing behavior, especially if that new design helps a person exhibit that behavior in a more meaningful manor. It gets hazy when you need to design something totally new and the behavior isn't present yet. Through implied interactions and affordances it may be necessary to 'trick' someone into performing an action.
Grocery stores come to mind when I think about this. Most US grocery stores are laid out so that a customer has to follow a specific path in order to get to the check out lane. This path is segmented and filled with various products at different stages assuming that close proximity will get a person put that item into their cart. The rack of candy at the check out lanes are another great example, kids know that it is almost time to go home and at this point their parents are committed to purchasing something. It is the perfect storm to 'trick' the parents into buying candy for their kids because it is assumed they don't want to deal with a crying child while trying to settle their bill. This sense of being 'used' bothers me on an emotional level, but rationally it just makes sense. Even if the path a person has to take leads them to believe that the decision was ultimately theirs, we know as the person behind the screen that we lead them to that decision. We are the proverbially Wizard's of Oz sometimes, and maybe that isn't such a bad thing after all. Brad Ty Nunnally On Fri, May 8, 2009 at 6:47 AM, David Malouf <[email protected]> wrote: > I think this is an issue of the tool is not the criminal. > "Every tool is a weapon if you hold it right" -- Ani DiFranco > > But if as Marc Rettig, Robert Fabricant & John Thackara urged us in > Vancouver, we use our tools for things we feel deeply about then > GREAT. > > But examples of our tools being used for other things are all around > us from loosing weight, to gambling, to making healthy eating > decisions, etc. > > It is between, you, your G-d, and your local gov't (oh! and your > neighbor) whether what you do w/ your knowledge and skills is > "good" or "bad". > > oh! and the Geneva Conventions!!!! > > -- dave > > > > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . > Posted from the new ixda.org > http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=41860 > > > ________________________________________________________________ > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ....... [email protected] > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help > ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [email protected] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
