> > One of the other researchers at HFI, Susan Weinschenk, recently > published a book called "Neuro Web Design - What makes them click?" > It was a good read and covered 9 different persuasion techniques.
Weinschenk's book, I thought, was awful. All she did, *really*, was rehash Cialdini's work and show a few examples along the way of how it can be applied to web design, something any designer could have extrapolated on his/her own by reading Cialdini's books, *Influence* and *Yes!*. Beyond that, it was poorly written — choppy and meandering. I hate to bash a fellow New Riders author, but I just can't recommend this book unless you're having a hard time getting people to read Cialdini's work (Weinschenk's book is much shorter) or you're dealing with people who can't apply concepts unless shown how to directly. HFI, frankly, appears to be a firm with run-of-the-mill talent that happens to have a good marketing angle. They created a certification and gave themselves an academic sounding name, and bang, we've had countless threads on this list from people asking if the cert will help their careers. It's such an obvious move — they just used the same tactics they preach. Creating a certification made them look like an *authority*. It doesn't mean they're the best out there, nor does it mean the cert will do a thing to improve your life. All it does is create a sense that the organization has a high level of expertise, which in turn encourages people to take a mental shortcut and trust them without further evaluation. The irony is that Cialdini's work represents the basis for all HFI does, but if you've read Cialdini's books, you can easily see through it. Want to make your firm famous? Coin a process and create a $20,000, 3-day course around it that culminates with a test and a the receipt of a certificate. You'll be raking in the dough in a matter of weeks. -r- ________________________________________________________________ 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
