Persuasive Web Design (Therese Fessenden) PDF

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UX Conference
Therese Fessenden
#nngux @tbfessenden
Persuasive Web Design
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Agenda
Trust & Human Behavior Principles of Stages of
Credibility Human automaticity
Influence Persuasion
Disposition to trust Reciprocation Visit the site
Judgmental heuristics
Boost credibility Commitment & Stay on the site
Cognitive biases
consistency
Measure credibility Take desirable actions
Social proof
Liking
Authority
Scarcity
Introduction | Agenda 2
Icons you’ll Good example of specific

concept 
see during
this seminar
Poor implementation of
specific concept 
Helpful tips
Introduction | Agenda 3
Today’s Goal
Introduction | Today’s Goal 4

persuade (verb)  
encourage willing parties 
to take desirable actions
Today’s Goal | Persuade 5

persuade ≠ trick users
Today’s Goal | Persuade 6

Today is not about

tricking users
Outlawed by EU Directive on
Consumer Rights:
• Sneak into basket
• Forced continuity
• Hidden costs
Today’s Goal | Persuade http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/consumer_rights/rights-contracts/directive/index_en.htm 7

Today’s Goal | Persuade http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/06/27/microsoft-pays-out-10000-over-automatic-windows-10-download/ 8

Ethics of Persuasive Technologies
Golden Rule
“Ask yourself whether your technology
persuades users to do something you wouldn’t
want to be persuaded to do yourself.”
Today’s Goal | Persuade Daniel Berdichevsky and Erik Neuenschwander. 1999. Toward an ethics of persuasive technology. Commun. ACM 42, 5 (2016 1999), 51-58. DOI=http://
dx.doi.org/10.1145/301353.301410
9
Company benefits more?
Who is
Dark Pattern
benefitting?
Company AND consumer benefit
equally?
Acceptable
Today’s Goal | Persuade Daniel Berdichevsky and Erik Neuenschwander. 1999. Toward an ethics of persuasive technology. Commun. ACM 42, 5 (2016 1999), 51-58. DOI=http://
dx.doi.org/10.1145/301353.301410
10
Trust & Credibility
Persuasive Web Design | Trust & Credibility 11

Disposition to Trust
Trust & Credibility | Disposition to Trust 12

A measure of the extent to which an

individual is willing to depend on
disposition others.
to trust Resulting from:
• General life experience
• Socialization
• Cultural background
• Personality type
Rotter, J.B., 1971, Generalized Expectancies for Interpersonal Trust, American Psychologist, 26 443-450.
Trust & Credibility | Disposition to Trust Kim, D.J., Ferin, D.L., and Rao, H.R., 2003, A Study of the Effect of Consumer Trust in Consumer Expectations and Satisfaction: The Korean 13
Experience, in Proceedings of Fifth International Conference on Electronics Commerce (ICEC’2003), Pittsburgh, USA, October 1-3, 310-315.
:(
The Bad News
Mistrusters rarely change

Mistruster Truster
• Pessimistic world view • Optimistic world view
• Things are beyond one’s • Belief that others share
control one’s values
Trust & Credibility | Disposition to Trust Uslaner, E.M., 2004, Trust, Civic Engagement, and the Internet, Political Communication, 21 223-242.
Gefen, D., 2002, Reflections on the Dimensions of Trust and Trustworthiness among Online Consumers, ACM SIGMIS Database, 33(3), 38-53.
15


Trust & Credibility | Disposition to Trust http://www.edelman.com/insights/intellectual-property/2016-edelman-trust-barometer/ 18

“The research confirms the democratizing trend of recent years – the

redistribution of influence from traditional authority figures such as CEOs
and prime ministers toward employees, peers and people with
credentials, including academics and technical experts.
A professor or person like yourself is now trusted nearly twice as much as

a chief executive or government official. The hierarchies of old are being
replaced by more trusted peer-to-peer, horizontal networks of trust.”
– Richard Edelman
Trust & Credibility | Disposition to Trust http://www.edelman.com/trust-downloads/executive-summary/ 19

:)
The Good News
You can improve success with trusters

Adjust content &

design
Credibility
Belief that the site
can help user
Definition of
+ TRUST
Online Trust
Benevolence
Belief that site has
good intentions Pace messaging &
requests
Trust & Credibility | Disposition to Trust Ganesan, S. (1994). Determinants of long-term orientation in buyer-seller relationships. the Journal of Marketing, 1-19. 21
Boost Credibility: 11 Tips
Trust & Credibility | Boost Credibility 22

1
Decrease cognitive strain
Boost Credibility | Decrease cognitive strain 23

Decrease cognitive strain

Cognitive Ease Cognitive Strain
• Like what you see
• Vigilant
• Believe what you hear

• Suspicious
• Trust intuitions
• Invest more effort
• Feel situation is familiar
Boost Credibility | Decrease cognitive strain Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2011), Kindle edition location 1137. 24
Maximize • Use bold type

Legibility • Avoid fine print
• Avoid low contrast
Boost Credibility | Decrease cognitive strain Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2011), Kindle edition location 1137. 25
Use simpler language where possible.
Avoid
Complex “Couching familiar ideas in
Language pretentious language is taken
as a sign of poor intelligence
and low credibility.”
Boost Credibility | Decrease cognitive strain Oppenheimer, D., Consequences of erudite vernacular utilized irrespective of necessity: Problems with using long words needlessly. Applied
Cognitive Psychology, Volume 20, Issue 2, pages 139–156, March 2006.
26
Experiment: Messages in Verse

Which statements were judged as more insightful?
GROUP 1 GROUP 2
Woes unite foes. Woes unite enemies.
Little strokes will tumble great oaks. Little strokes will tumble great trees.
A fault confessed is half redressed. A fault admitted is half redressed.
Boost Credibility | Decrease cognitive strain McGlone, M.S., and Tofighbakhsh, J. (2000) Birds of a feather flock conjointly (?): rhyme as reason in aphorisms. Psychological Science,
11:424-28.
27
2
Feature real people
Boost Credibility | Feature real people 28

Show the
people
behind the
service
Boost Credibility | Feature real people Chartio.com, unbounce.com 29

3
Don’t require a credit
card for trials
Boost Credibility | Free trials 30

Boost Credibility | Free trials 31

Good example of
reciprocation
Boost Credibility | Free trials Chartio.com, invisionapp.com 32

4
Localize your content
properly
Boost Credibility | Localize your content 33

Ensure localized
content uses
proper “They use the word petrol. Now I’m
nomenclature wondering if this site might be European.”
Guidelines
• Hire a professional local translator.
• Update on a regular basis.
• Include local testimonials, success stories, reviews
Boost Credibility | Localize your content www.blurtit.com 34

5
Use humor appropriately
Boost Credibility | Appropriate humor 35

Humor
Tone of voice is
important
Is this humor or
reality?
Boost Credibility | Appropriate humor computerbags.com waitbutwhy.com 36

6
Keep negative reviews
Boost Credibility | Negative reviews 37

Keep negative reviews

Research indicates negative
reviews can boost credibility
“If this is the worst this
Negative reviews that are well
written can increase sales.
product will throw at me,
Negative reviews that are specific
it must be pretty good.”
mitigate risk.
Boost Credibility | Negative reviews http://www.technologyreview.com/view/425488/how-negative-reviews-increase-sales-online/ 38

Many bad reviews come from good customers

• “Self-appointed brand managers”
are loyal, but write many negative
reviews as a way to speak to the
company.
• Recommendation: Invite your best

customers to a feedback panel, create
and highlight a feedback tool (like
UserVoice or Get Satisfaction).
Boost Credibility | Negative reviews http://web.mit.edu/simester/Public/Papers/Deceptive_Reviews.pdf 39

7
Make it easy to see
negative reviews
Boost Credibility | Negative reviews 40

Make it easy to see

negative reviews
Make it easy to see how many

negative reviews there are and
skip to them first.
Boost Credibility | Negative reviews amazon.com dell.com 41

8
Don’t ask for too much
too early
Boost Credibility | Levels of commitment 42

Experiential
Levels of
Commitment
Read more at:

www.nngroup.com/articles/
commitment-levels
Boost Credibility | Levels of commitment 43

Don’t require
personal
information
Boost Credibility | Levels of commitment ancilla.edu 44

Don’t require a
commitment
to recurring
purchases
…Approximately 30 days after your first order is shipped, and then approximately
every 3 months thereafter, you will be sent a new 90 day supply of Proactiv+. For
each 90 day supply sent to you, you will be charged three monthly payments of
$29.95 plus $2.99 for shipping and handling, which will conveniently be charged to
the card you provide today unless you call to cancel.
Boost Credibility | Levels of commitment proactiv.com 45

9
Offer paths to accommodate
user situations
Boost Credibility | Offer paths 46

affect (noun)  
emotional state that
influences behavior
Negative Affect Positive Affect

FEELING Anxious or endangered Relaxed and happy
BRAIN • Becomes focused
• More receptive to
• Less receptive to interruptions
information that is not • Attends to novel ideas and

related to the current task events
Boost Credibility | Offer paths Don Norman, Emotional Design: Why We Love (or hate) Everyday Things (Basic Books; 2004). 47
Consider user’s circumstances as they use your site
Positive affect: Doing taxes

online on February 5th (more
receptive to info and ideas)
Negative affect: Doing taxes on

April 14th (stressed out!)
Boost Credibility | Offer paths turbotax.com 48

10
Give control to users
Boost Credibility | Give users control 49

Give control to users
Giving shoppers the ability to

sort products within a category
by customer rating led to a
sales increase of 41% per
unique visitor.
Boost Credibility | Give users control petco.com 50

11
Check for suspicious
interactions
Boost Credibility | Suspicious interactions 51

Check for
interactions that
might make users
suspicious
Boost Credibility | Suspicious interactions lenovo.com 52

Check for
interactions that
might make users
suspicious
Boost Credibility | Suspicious interactions lenovo.com 53

Measuring Credibility
Trust & Credibility | Measuring credibility 54

Flawed Research: Survey-based

1. Survey emailed to 1500 U.S.
residents.
2. Answered questions about what

they thought influenced them to
use a site.
ISSUES
• If users are deciding to visit, then
they are not at the site yet – how
would they know how easy it is to
navigate?
• People tell you what they think is

the right, responsible answer
Trust & Credibility | Measuring credibility Princeton Survey Research Associates, 2002, A Matter of Trust: What Users Want From Web Sites: Results of a National Survey of Internet Users
for Consumer WebWatch.
55
Flawed Research: Asking

“Which site is more credible”
1. Given two live Web sites to evaluate for
credibility
2. Ranked the two sites according to credibility
3. Left comments about each site’s credibility
ISSUES
• People do not know what influences them.
They think they know, but they don’t.
• People can only assign value to things they are

aware of or have a name for.
Trust & Credibility | Measuring credibility Fogg, BJ, Soohoo, C., Danielson, D, Marable, L., Stanford, J., Tauber, E., 2002, How Do People Evaluate a Web Site’s Credibility? 56
Prominence Interpretation Credibility Impact

An element’s likelihood of What value or meaning The impact that element
being noticed when people assign to element, = has on credibility
people evaluate good or bad. assessment.
credibility.
Prominence-
Interpretation To test prominence, use  
Theory screenshot time-out testing
http://fivesecondtest.com/
http://www.userzoom.com/software/research-capabilities/
screenshot-timeout-testing/
Trust & Credibility | Measuring credibility Fogg, BJ, 2003, Prominence-Interpretation Theory: Explaining How People Assess Credibility Online, CHI 2003: New Horizons, 722-723. 57
Users are influenced by guided surveys

Guided Studies Lead Users to Rate Attributes as More Important
100%
Percent of people rating attribute as Important
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Secure Reference to
Professional Contact Privacy Company High quality
Verisign Sockets Layer Testimonials white space size of Logo
design information statement profile graphics
(SSL) company
GUIDED (sort) 98% 98% 95% 95% 92% 90% 82% 78% 76% 41% 35%
UNGUIDED 8% 58% 75% 73% 58% 15% 68% 4% 30% 40% 8%
Trust & Credibility | Measuring credibility Lumsden, Jo, 2009, Triggering Trust: To What Extent Does the Question Influence the Answer When Evaluating the Perceived Importance of
Trust Triggers?, HCI 2009 – People and Computers XXII – Celebrating People and Technology, 214-223.
58
Guidelines: Measuring Credibility

Credibility is, ultimately, measured by the completion of and comfort with desirable
actions.
DON’T DO
• Conduct surveys
• Observe users
• Ask users to name or select attributes • Ask them to conduct specific tasks
which impact their trust of a website
• Watch, listen and ask questions that will unveil

• Ask users to judge “credibility” or “trust” credibility issues without mentioning it.
because people will tell you what they

think they should consider as responsible
adults.
Trust & Credibility | Measuring credibility 59

After-task follow-up survey/questions
• SEQ: Single Ease Question “Overall, this task was…” http://www.measuringusability.com/

blog/seq10.php
• Add a confidence question: “On a scale from 1 to 7, how confident do you feel in your
answer?
• In-person moderation: Ask “why” for qualitative color.
Trust & Credibility | Measuring credibility Jeff Sauro’s Measuring Usability blog: http://www.measuringusability.com/blog/single-question.php 60
PROCESS
Use Optimization • Survey users and conduct user testing to
discover big issues
Testing
• Develop hypotheses
also known as:  • Use A/B testing (quantitative) to test
A/B Split Testing  potential solutions
Multivariate Testing
• Keep a record of hypotheses and results to
guide future design challenges
Trust & Credibility | Measuring credibility A/B testing vendors listed at the end of the deck 61
Human Behavior
Persuasive Web Design | Human Behavior 62

:(
More Bad News
People do not behave logically

True or • All roses are flowers

False? • Some flowers fade quickly.
• Therefore, some roses fade quickly.

Two Systems
SYSTEM 1  SYSTEM 2 
“Automatic System” “Effortful System”
Fast Slow
Automatic, little or no effort, no sense of Effortful mental activities
voluntary control
 
17 x 24
Detects simple relations   Follows rules, compares objects across
(e.g. “They are all alike.”) several attributes, makes deliberate choices
Human Behavior | Human Automaticity Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2011.
http://scienceblog.com/51262/what-are-emotion-expressions-for/
65
Why it’s so difficult • System 1 feeds System 2 with suggested

impressions, intuitions, intentions, feelings.
to change
• If these are endorsed by System 2, they
someone’s mind become beliefs. 
“It's easier to fool people than

to convince them that they  
have been fooled.”  
- Mark Twain
Human Behavior | Human Automaticity Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2011. 66
“Human automaticity is the

ability to do things without
occupying the mind.”
- Robert Cialdini
Human Behavior | Human Automaticity 67

Would you comply with these?

Experiment: A. “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I
use the Xerox machine?”
System 1
B. “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I
at work use the Xerox machine because I’m in
a rush?”
C. “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I
use the Xerox machine because I have
to make some copies?”
Human Behavior | Human Automaticity Langer, E., Blank, A., Chanowitz, B. (1978). The mindlessness of ostensibly thoughtful action: The role of “placebic” information in interpersonal
interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36, 635-642.
68
When asking for something, provide a reason
FOR YOUR DESIGNS

• What do you ask users?
• Could any of those

requests benefit from
providing a reason?
Human Behavior | Human Automaticity rallypoint.com 69

(noun)  
cognitive bias tendency to make systematic errors in

judgment, knowledge, and reasoning.
• results from information-processing
shortcuts (heuristics).
• includes errors in statistical
judgment, social attribution and
memory.

People default to speed & convenience  

vs. accuracy
EXAMPLES OF  
We use judgmental heuristics: mental JUDGMENTAL HEURISTICS
shortcuts/rules of thumb (from System
1) to make decisions, solve problems • If it costs more, it’s better quality
and form beliefs (in System 2) • If it’s on sale, it must not have
been popular
Human Behavior | Judgmental Heuristics 71

Reliance on judgmental heuristics has tradeoffs

GOOD BAD
• Reduces the range of possible • Often triggered by a single feature of
solutions
the situation
• Raises the chance of solving the • Does not guarantee a correct solution
problem (if you are an “expert”)
• Often answer the wrong question…an

• Reduces required time easier question
Human Behavior | Judgmental Heuristics 72

Judgmental heuristic
predicts outcomes
of U.S. congressional
elections
Rapid judgments based on
minimal time exposure to
faces predicted 67.6% of the
actual Senate races.
Human Behavior | Judgmental Heuristics Todorov, A., Mandisodza, A.N., Goren, A., Hall, C.C. (2005). Inferences of Competence from Faces Predict Election Outcomes. Science 10 June
2005: Vol. 308 no. 5728 pp. 1623-1626
73
Cognitive Biases
Human Behavior | Cognitive Biases 74

priming (noun)  
an implicit memory effect
in which exposure to a
stimulus influences a
response to a later stimulus.

Experiment: Honor System

Office break room with a
coffee/tea station & collection
jar for milk 
Alternating weeks with

alternating types of pictures:
flowers & eyes
Human Behavior | Cognitive Biases Melissa Bateson, Daniel Nettle, and Gilbert Roberts, “Cues of being Watched Enhance Cooperation in a Real-World Setting,” Biology Letters 2
(2006): 412-14.
76
anchoring (noun)  
to use an initial piece
of information to make
subsequent judgments

Experiment: “What would you pay for a wireless

keyboard?”
Auction
Last two digits of Social
Average Bid
Security Number
00-19 $16.09
20-39 $26.82
40-59 $29.27
60-79 $34.55
80-99 $55.64
Human Behavior | Cognitive Biases Drazen Prelec and Dan Ariely, MIT experiment, 2006. 78
framing (noun)  
disparity in estimates
when an identical
problem is presented in
a different way

Presenting problems differently can influence

decision-making
Positive Negative
• Odds of survival one month after • Odds of mortality within one month of
surgery are 90%
surgery are 10%
• 90% fat-free • 10% fat
Human Behavior | Cognitive Biases Tversky and Kahneman (1981) 80

Experiment:
Lyft & Uber
What percentage of people
chose to walk in order to
avoid a higher fare?
Percentage (+25%): 44% 

Numeric (1.25x): 38%
Human Behavior | Cognitive Biases Irrational Labs: “How small copy changes can make a big (revenue) difference”; Lyft.com, uber.com 81
True or • All roses are flowers

False? • Some flowers fade quickly.
• Therefore, some roses fade quickly.

Flowers
Quick-
Roses
faders
System 1: Conclusion first, then rationale
“This experiment…suggests that when

All roses are flowers  people believe a conclusion is true,
they are also very likely to believe
Some flowers fade quickly  arguments that appear to support it,
even when these arguments are
Therefore some roses fade quickly unsound. If System 1 is involved, the
conclusion comes first and the
arguments follow.” (Kahneman)
Principles of Influence
Persuasive Web Design | Principles of Influence Dr. Robert B. Cialdini, Influence: Science and Practice (Pearson Education Inc., 2009), 33. 85
1
Reciprocation
Principles of Influence | Reciprocation 86

Experiment: Reciprocation
• Two people in a room working on problems.
A. Participant
B. Confederate
• Scenario 1: B leaves room and comes back with soda for himself.
• Scenario 2: B leaves room and comes back with soda for himself
and offers a soda to A.
• At session’s end, B asks A if he’ll buy some raffle tickets.
Principles of Influence | Reciprocation Dr. Robert B. Cialdini, Influence: Science and Practice (Pearson Education Inc., 2009), 33. 87
The Rule of We feel a sense of obligation to

repay what another has provided
Reciprocation
More on reciprocity: 
www.nngroup.com/articles/reciprocity-principle
Principles of Influence | Reciprocation Cialdini, Robert B. Influence: Science and Practice. Boston, Mass.: Pearson, A and B, 2009. 88
Reciprocating supersedes liking a person.
Principles of Influence | Reciprocation 89

Reciprocation
Zillow provides a lot of

information about homes
up-front, including real
estate “Zestimates.” 
Trulia requires users to

provide more information
before providing a real
estate estimate.
Principles of Influence | Reciprocation redfin.com ziprealty.com 90

Reward Model
Users must give
away their  
info in order to be
‘rewarded’ with
content.
Overlay appears before

users can see any
examples of types of
products the site has.
Principles of Influence | Reciprocation http://www.nngroup.com/articles/login-walls/ 91

Limited Reciprocity
Principles of Influence | Reciprocation pinterest.com 92

Experiment: Gamberini Reciprocation Study

Reward vs. Reciprocation: 
• Which condition has a 16% better When the site asks users for
personal info
submission rate? Reward 
• Which condition generates more Reward Prior to access

voluntarily submitted contact
information? Reciprocation 
Reciprocation After providing access
(Name, Surname, Email address,
Country, Province, City)
Principles of Influence | Reciprocation Luciano Gamberini, Giovanni Petrucci, Andrea Spoto and Anna Spagnolli, 2007. Embedded Persuasive Strategies to Obtain Visitors’ Data: Comparing
Reward and Reciprocity in an Amateur, Knowledge-Based Website. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2007, Volume 4744/2007, 187-198.
93
“Participants might respond to a gift once,

but do not do so a second time, when
they might begin to see gift giving as a
strategic (rather than altruistic) act.”
— Michael Sanders
Behavioural Insights Team
Principles of Influence | Reciprocation http://www.behaviouralinsights.co.uk/academic-publications/ 94

2
Consistency
Principles of Influence | Consistency 95

Once a person makes a

The Rule of decision, takes a stand, or
Consistency performs an action, they
tend to make all future
behavior match this past
behavior
Principles of Influence | Consistency Cialdini, Robert B. Influence: Science and Practice. Boston, Mass.: Pearson, A and B, 2009. 96
1. Judgmental heuristics 
Why do we Consistency eases decision-making.
do this? You choose something once and
don’t have to think about it again.
2. Avoiding unpleasant emotions 
Avoiding the risk of loss or
disappointment (loss aversion).
Principles of Influence | Consistency Cialdini, Robert B. Influence: Science and Practice. Boston, Mass.: Pearson, A and B, 2009. 97
People are driven to appear consistent

Inconsistent Consistent
Confused Rational
Two-faced  Personally & intellectually  
strong
Note: This influencing principle refers to behavioral consistency,

NOT design consistency.
Principles of Influence | Consistency Allgeier, A.R., Byrne, D., Brooks, B., & Revnes, D. (1979). The waffle phenomenon: Negative evaluations of those who shift attitudinally. Journal of
Applied Social Psychology, 9, 170-182.
98
• If you can get someone to make

Commitment is a commitment, you can trigger
the key to triggering the Rule of Consistency
consistency • The commitment can be small

and seemingly inconsequential
Principles of Influence | Consistency 99

Principles of Influence | Consistency linkedin.com 100

Principles of Influence | Consistency todoist.com 101

Principles of Influence | Consistency yelp.com 102

3
Social Proof
Principles of Influence | Social Proof 103

Experiment: Asch Conformity Study

• Fifty groups of 8-10 people:
• 1 actual participant
• 18 trials: 12 answered incorrectly
• 36.8% of participants answered
incorrectly
• Interviews after the study indicated
decreased confidence and
uncertainty
Principles of Influence | Social Proof Asch, S.E. (1956). "Studies of independence and conformity. A minority of one against a unanimous majority". Psychological Monographs. 70 (9): 1–70.
doi:10.1037/h0093718.
104
When uncertain, people will

Social Proof determine what is correct by finding
out what other people think is
correct
More on social proof:  

www.nngroup.com/articles/social-proof-ux
Lun, J., Sinclair, S., Whitchurch, E.R., & Glenn, C (2007). (Why) do I think what you think? Epistemic social tuning and implicit prejudice. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 957-972.
Principles of Influence | Social Proof Parks, C.D., Sanna, L.J., & Berel, S.R. (2001). Actions of similar others as inducements to cooperate in social dilemmas. Personality and Social
Psychology Bulletin, 27, 345-354.
105
“I don’t care what other people think.”
Many study participants will claim that they don’t care

about or listen to what other people think
We want to appear logical & individual—we believe that
we think for ourselves.
NOTE: Trust icons are another form of social proof, but they
must be tested.
Principles of Influence | Social Proof 106

Which test
won?
With icon:  
3.01% increase in
revenue per visitor 
 
* Only improved
conversion when used
consistently at each step
of checkout
Principles of Influence | Social Proof behave.org 107

4
Liking
Principles of Influence | Liking 108

Experiment: Sales Impact of Reviews
Including reviews for   Including reviews for  

… a tourist destination … a tourist destination 
… with a photo of reviewer 
 
10% more sold 20% more sold
Principles of Influence | Liking De Vries, Peter and Ad Pruyn. 2007. Source Salience and the Persuasiveness of Peer Recommendations: The Mediating Role of Social Trust. In Persuasive
Technology, Second International Conference on Persuasive Technology. New York: Springer.
109
People prefer to say “yes” to individuals they

know and like.
Liking Similarity: We like people who are like us
Familiarity: We like people we know
Cooperation: We like people we collaborate with
Association: We like people who connect

themselves to positive things
Principles of Influence | Liking Cialdini, Robert B. Influence: Science and Practice. Boston, Mass.: Pearson, A and B, 2009. 110
We also like people who

compliment us :)

Perception of one trait of a person or

Halo Effect object is influenced by the perception of
another trait (or several traits) of that
person or object.
“A person who wears glasses  

is more intelligent.”
Reverse   Perceiving one bad trait leads one to

assume the person/object/brand has
Halo Effect many other bad traits.
Principles of Influence | Liking Cialdini, Robert B. Influence: Science and Practice. Boston, Mass.: Pearson, A and B, 2009 112
Social Proof vs. Liking

Social Proof Liking
“What do other people think? What do others “Do I like you? Are you similar to me?”
normally do in this situation?”
 
Consensus / Number of people is Attributes of the person are persuasive
persuasive
Examples:
Examples:
“Customers who viewed this item also
887 customer reviews viewed”
“Most helpful customer reviews” Top Rated Hotels for Solo Business
Traveler
Top Rated Hotels 

Social proof & liking used together

Liking 
“She’s like me / my
family. I like what she
says about her parent.”
Social Proof 
“Forty other people
said this mattered to
them enough to
donate.”
Principles of Influence | Liking ucla.edu 114

5
Authority
Principles of Influence | Authority 115

Experiment: Positions of Authority

• Researcher calls nurses station
• Identifies himself as hospital doctor
• Instructs nurse to give medication to
a patient What percentage of nurses
complied with the request?
Issues with this request
95%
- Against hospital policy to transmit prescription
via phone
- Specific medication requires authorization
- Prescribed dosage clearly dangerous
- Order given by a “doctor” that the nurse had

never met
Principles of Influence | Authority Hofling, C.K., Brotzman, E., Dalrymple, S., Graves, N., & Pierce, C.M. (1966). An experimental study of nurse-physician relationships. Journal of Nervous
and Mental Disease, 143, 171-180.
116
Experiment: The Power of a Uniform

A man stops you on the street:
What percentage of subjects
complied with the request?
“See that guy by the
Wearing Wearing
meter? He’s over-
civilian security
parked, but doesn’t clothing uniform
have any change. Go
give him a dime.”
42%  92%
Principles of Influence | Authority Bickman, L. (1974). The social power of a uniform. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 4, 47-61. 117
Symbols of Authority
• Titles, clothing, automobiles
• Reputable sources
Judgmental Heuristic:
Authorities possess high
levels of knowledge, wisdom
and power.
Principles of Influence | Authority fabric8labs.com 

Cialdini, Robert B. Influence: Science and Practice. Boston, Mass.: Pearson, A and B, 2009.
118
A study on charity donations:

Celebrity
• Celebrity endorsements are more
endorsements effective when they encourage
build loyalty repeat sales or customer loyalty,
than on converting new sales.
• Celebrity endorsements:
immediate effects, but limited in
long-term to already predisposed
(“warm”) donors
Principles of Influence | Authority Michael Sanders: http://www.behaviouralinsights.co.uk/academic-publications/ 119

6
Scarcity
Principles of Influence | Scarcity 120

People assign more value to

Scarcity opportunities that are less
available.
More on scarcity: 
www.nngroup.com/articles/scarcity-principle-ux
Principles of Influence | Scarcity Knishinsky, A. (1982). The effects of scarcity of material and exclusivity of information on industrial buyer perceived risk in provoking a purchase
decision. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Arizona State University, Tempe.
121
Experiment: Limited Opportunities
Standard sales presentation: Normal order

Standard sales presentation plus information that supply
will be scarce in upcoming months: 2x normal order
Standard sales presentation plus information that supply

will be scarce in upcoming months plus disclosure that
information was not generally available: 6x normal order
Principles of Influence | Scarcity Knishinsky, A. (1982). The effects of scarcity of material and exclusivity of information on industrial buyer perceived risk in provoking a purchase decision.
Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Arizona State University, Tempe.
122
Why do we Things that are difficult to

attain are perceived as more
do this? valuable.
As things become less available,

we believe we lose freedoms.
Principles of Influence | Scarcity Cialdini, Robert B. Influence: Science and Practice. Boston, Mass.: Pearson, A and B, 2009.
Tversky, A. & Kahneman, D. (1991). Loss Aversion in Riskless Choice: A Reference Dependent Model. Quarterly Journal of Economics 106, 1039-1061.
123
Loss Aversion
Losses are twice as

painful, as gains are
enjoyable.
Principles of Influence | Scarcity Tversky, A. & Kahneman, D. (1991). Loss Aversion in Riskless Choice: A Reference Dependent Model. Quarterly Journal of Economics 106, 1039-1061. 124
Loss Aversion
Losses are twice
as painful, as gains
are enjoyable.
Principles of Influence | Scarcity paypal.com 125

Scarcity in  
Information
“Be the first to know!”
Principles of Influence | Scarcity urbanoutfitters.com 126

Examples
of scarcity
in email
Principles of Influence | Scarcity White House Black Market email, Jetblue email 127
Activity: Principles of Influence

Spot the principles of influence 1. Reciprocity
utilized by booking.com
2. Commitment & Consistency
• Home page
3. Social Proof
• Listings page
4. Liking
• Hotel page
5. Authority
6. Scarcity
Persuasive Web Design | Principles of Influence 128

Stages of Persuasion
Persuasive Web Design | Stages of Persuasion 129

Building Trust
Finding New Pet Sitters
Persuasive Web Design | Stages of Persuasion 130

Process of Trusting a Site
Stage 1: Initial  Stage 2: Experiential 

Spontaneous (surface) Through usage (message)
Is it safe? Is this good for me?

Is this what I expected? Does this organization have
my best interests at heart?
Ulsaner, E.M., 2004, Trust Online, Trust Offline, Communications of the ACM, 47(4), 28-29.
Persuasive Web Design | Stages of Persuasion Wathen, C. N., & Burkell, J. (2002). Believe it or not: Factors influencing credibility on the Web. Journal of the American Society for 131
Information Science and Technology, 53(2), 134–144.
Phases: Persuade people to…

Experiential Trust 
Initial Trust  (message)
(surface)
 
Stay on the site
 
  Tune Visual Appearance & Take desirable actions
Eliminate Surprises
Visit the site Allay fears & predict questions
Prioritize/promote expected
Search & brand awareness Ease decision-making
information
Encourage engagement with Provide gentle nudges 
content & features
Persuasive Web Design | Stages of Persuasion Marsh, S. and Meech, J., 2000, Trust in Design, in Proceedings of Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI’2000),
The Hague, The Netherlands, April 1-6, 45-46.
132
1
Visit the site
Stages of Persuasion | Visit the site 133

53%
… of Search Engine
Results Page (SERP)
first clicks are the first
organic listing link
Users are biased

against sponsored
links, even when
controlled for content.
“Seeing Between the Lines of the Search and the Click”, compete.com
Stages of Persuasion | Visit the site Jansen, Bernard J., and Marc Resnick. "An examination of searchers perceptions of nonsponsored and sponsored links during ecommerce Web 134
searching." Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 57.14 (2006): 1949-961. Web.
Look at search results above fold

(Often skipping over sponsored ads)
Skim page for familiar names/closest

match to query in linked titles
How people Skim URLs
evaluate search
result pages Skim descriptions
Notice details like dates (if search query

is event or weather, this happens sooner)

Study of Young Adults

Google
Gullibility • Over 25% chose a site
because it was the first result.
• No participants investigated
author of destination sites’
content.
Stages of Persuasion | Visit the site Hargittai E., Fullerton, L. , Menchen-Trevino, E., Thomas, K. (2010). Trust Online: Young Adults’ Evaluation of Web Content. International Journal of
Communication 4 (2010), 468–494.
136
“I trust it because it’s an edu.” 
“Anything, with a dot-gov I’d probably read more than a dot-

com…or dot-org, just because it’s not commercial.” 
“I would definitely look for Web sites that end with org to be
safe.”
(user statements about .org, .gov, and .edu domains)
Stages of Persuasion | Visit the site Hargittai E., Fullerton, L. , Menchen-Trevino, E., Thomas, K. (2010). Trust Online: Young Adults’ Evaluation of Web Content. International Journal of
Communication 4 (2010), 468–494.
137
Utilize existing customers and prospects to build

brand awareness
Identify your shareable objects
• Articles • Photos
• Contacts • Comments
• Bios • Reviews
• Addresses/Locations • Video clips

Appropriate Sharing Mechanism Missed Opportunity
Stages of Persuasion | Visit the site macys.com rei.com 139

Address shared e-mails from sharer’s email address; using

their name in the title is not enough
NOTE: Be sure to research and understand CAN-SPAM Act restrictions
Stages of Persuasion | Visit the site business.ftc.gov/documents/bus61-can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business 140

E-mail: Do not bury critical text

in images
Even though many email clients display

images by default, some connections may
still block images.
Stages of Persuasion | Visit the site Email from gemvara.com 141
Email: Best Practice
Stages of Persuasion | Visit the site Email from hubspot.com 142

Leverage the Fresh Start Effect

Ask people to do things that are good Top temporal landmarks:
for them on fresh start dates.
• New week
Fresh start effect has been found to
work in financial, educational, and • New month
health-related contexts.
• New year
• After a birthday
More on Fresh Start: 
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/fresh-start-effect/ • 1st day of spring
Stages of Persuasion | Visit the site Dai, Hengchen and Milkman, Katherine L. and Riis, Jason, The Fresh Start Effect: Temporal Landmarks Motivate Aspirational Behavior (December 24,
2013). The Wharton School Research Paper No. 51. Available at http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2204126
143
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Stages of Persuasion | Visit the site Email from getpocket.com 144

2
Stay on the site
Stages of Persuasion | Stay on the site 145

Make stay/go decision based on

visual appearance and control
How people Scan for expected information

assess a website
Choose a path and engage
Stages of Persuasion | Stay on the site 146

I
Tune visual appearance
and eliminate surprises
Stay on the site | Eliminate surprises 147

You’d like to buy a new $1,000

acoustic guitar.


pre-attentive (noun)  
processing Forming an impression very
quickly and before fixating
on content
Stay on the site | Eliminate surprises Gitte Lindgaard, Gary Fernandes, Cathy Dudek, J. Brown. Attention web designers: You have 50 milliseconds to make a good first impression!
Behaviour & InformationTechnology, Vol. 25, No. 2, March-April 2006, 115-126.
150
Information from peripheral view is

pre-attentive enough to tell them not to look at
processing something (e.g. banner blindness).
You cannot rely on words alone to

communicate your message.
151
Visual first impression impacts the perception

of the experience
“One study exploring users’ experience with a website

previously found to be visually extremely appealing,
was equally highly valued before and after a usability
test in which, on average, participants completed less
than one-half of the tasks successfully.”
152
Utilize associative
imagery: Priming
For industries with trust issues

(e.g. financial services) use
imagery that inspires trust
Stay on the site | Eliminate surprises mint.com 153

Use imagery that inspires trust
Spy-like caricature? Not clandestine, but misses the mark

Image does not show what the service actually does Why the alarm clock?

Redesigned again
Great use of images but…

They are asking way too much!

Avoid images of
people unless
your segment is
very well-defined
Stay on the site | Eliminate surprises www.justthrive.com 156

Stay on the site | Eliminate surprises Matt McInerney of pixelspread.com 157

Use face photos for personal transactions
Stay on the site | Eliminate surprises etsy.com ebay.com 158

Face images can

make links invisible:  
banner blindness
washingtonpost.com
Stay on the site | Eliminate surprises Tom Tullis , Marisa Siegel , Emily Sun, Are people drawn to faces on webpages?, Proceedings of the 27th international conference extended abstracts on
Human factors in computing systems, April 04-09, 2009, Boston, MA, USA
159
Use images that accurately represent what you do/sell
Stay on the site | Eliminate surprises g5leadership.com 160

… but it still looks like software!
Stay on the site | Eliminate surprises g5leadership.com 161

For Nonprofits
Illustrate the problem
Stay on the site | Eliminate surprises https://youthbuild.org/ www.standupforkids.org http://www.covenanthouse.org/ 162

For Nonprofits
Illustrate the problem
Stay on the site | Eliminate surprises standupforkids.com 163

Charity: Before & After
Before After

Include contextual photos (product in use, in normal

setting, etc.)
Product demo & tutorial for utilitarian products Product in use in different settings
homedepot.com fjallraven.us
II
Prioritize & promote
expected information
Stay on the site | Expected information 166

What’s your name? What do you do?
Be cautious when
using humor.
(June Cleaver?)
Stay on the site | Expected information deverconcierge.com 167

Before & After
Clear introduction in logo & main content
Stay on the site | Expected information deverconcierge.com 168

Promote
awards and
reviews from
independent
authorities
Stay on the site | Expected information mint.com 169

2014
A/B testing can

help determine
where you should
place accolades
2010
Stay on the site | Expected information mint.com 170

If your global
navigation doesn’t
define what you do,
include a persistent
tagline

Clearly state the purpose of your site
Global navigation + tagline = no guesswork …where am I?

rideonbikes.com thecloveclub.com

Make price visible by default
dell.com thelodgesportsgrille.com
Even for B2B, show pricing for common scenarios 

http://www.nngroup.com/articles/show-price/
http://www.nngroup.com/articles/show-prices-for-common-scenarios/

III
Encourage engagement
with content & features

Use stories
with details
Stay on the site | Expected information lifelock.com 175

Provide stories
about notable
“customers”
Stay on the site | Expected information http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/undergraduate/employability/alumni/community 176

Add more
details for
particular
buyers
Stay on the site | Expected information patagonia.com 177

Site visitors who interact with both reviews and

customer Q&A:
• 105% more likely to purchase while visiting, and
Include ratings, • Spend 11% more than visitors who don’t interact with
user-generated content. 
reviews, and - Bazaarvoice, Conversation Index, Q2 2011.
comments Percentages of UK adults that read online reviews:

• 54% of adults
• 61% of adults aged under 55
• 42% of adults aged 55 or over
Stay on the site | Expected information https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/436238/Online_reviews_and_endorsements.pdf

http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/9366-e-commerce-consumer-reviews-why-you-need-them-and-how-to-use-them
178
Ask users to write reviews to help other users; not

to help you
Stay on the site | Expected information etsy.com barbellapparel.com 179

Review helpfulness:
Impacted by product type
and explanation type
Product type Explanation type that is Example

most helpful
Utilitarian Action explanation “I bought this book, because…”
Hedonic Reaction explanation “I love this book, because…”
Stay on the site | Expected information Moore, S. (2015). Attitude Predictability and Helpfulness in Online Reviews: The Role of Explained Actions and Reactions. Journal of Consumer
Research, 42(1), 30-44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucv003
180
Offer incentives
for reviews from
verified buyers
Stay on the site | Expected information target.com Email from Ann Taylor 181
How do users gauge trust of strangers?
Similarity: Would this person have the Social Proof: Do other people trust this
same standards/perspectives as me?
person?
Characteristics: where they live, what Behavior: quantity of content, tenure
they look like, age, education, hobbies,

measurements, experience, etc. Endorsements: how helpful, how many
friends, validated by the site?

Reputation in comments
What do people
Does it represent Is this person Is this person
think of this
majority sentiment? engaged? committed?
comment?
Stay on the site | Expected information arstechnica.com 183

Make it easy for

people to find
reviews from
people like
themselves
Stay on the site | Expected information dell.com newegg.com 184

Systematize  
user behaviors
Stay on the site | Expected information modcloth.com 185

Make it easy to
filter by reviewer
characteristics
Stay on the site | Expected information lenovo.com 186

Respond to poor
reviews publicly,
quickly, and
personably
Stay on the site | Expected information yelp.com facebook.com 187

3
Persuade people to take
desirable actions
Stages of Persuasion | Take desirable actions 188

I
Allay fears & 
predict questions
Take desirable actions | Predict questions 189

Is it compatible?
Take desirable actions | Predict questions amazon.com 190

How much
will I save?

Subtle savings or highlighted savings?
A B
26.3% higher click through rate to

the shopping cart
Take desirable actions | Predict questions behave.org 192

What is the
regular price?
Take desirable actions | Predict questions simplycook.co.uk 193

When will I have it?

• When will it be delivered?
• When do I need to place the order
to receive it by then?

Can I return it?

Include on:
• Product page
• Shopping cart
Take desirable actions | Predict questions shoebuy.com 195

Will it suit my needs?
Take desirable actions | Predict questions landsend.com 196

Who are you?  

Do I like you?
People also look for:
• Headquarters location
• Photos of physical
presence
Take desirable actions | Predict questions amys.com 197

• Specific quantifiable benefits

Testimonial and/or personal situations
Selection • Look for initial reservations
and changed perception
• Address questions that
customers are asking at
various stages

Will this solve my problems?
Take desirable actions | Predict questions salesforce.com 199

Who are your

customers?
B2B: Highlight writers’ titles
and companies
Take desirable actions | Predict questions freshbooks.com 200

Who are your

customers?
B2B: Highlight writers’ titles
and companies
freshbooks.com
hiveage.com

B2B: Show scale of

customers’ business
Take desirable actions | Predict questions entrata.com 202

Activity: User Expectations & Questions

Reflect on the interfaces you work on:
1. What are the first visual impressions?
2. What information do users expect to be prioritized from the start?
3. What questions or concerns do we anticipate users will have?
4. How well does the interface support #1-3 above? 

If you don’t know, what steps can you take to find out?

II
Ease decision-making
Take desirable actions | Ease decision-making 204

Decision Architecture
What you need to determine: You decide:
How complex is this decision? Defaults
What is the impact of this decision? Number of options
How much experience/knowledge does the Differences between options

decider have?
Ordering
Wording (think about Framing)
Take desirable actions | Ease decision-making Roller, C. Decision Architecture: Helping Users Make Better Decisions. UX Matters. November 8, 2010.
http://uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2010/11/decision-architecture-helping-users-make-better-decisions.php
205
Experiment: Defaults
“Because default options require
Persuade students to volunteer for someone to make a ‘choice by
an extra credit project. inaction’ one could question a
person’s commitment to any future
Default Agreed Showed up implementation of that choice given
Opt-in Fill out form to ~50% 49% that they didn’t actively participate in
volunteer the decision.”
Opt-out Fill out form to ~50% 17%
opt-out
- Steve Martin CMCT
Cioffi, D., & Garner, R. (1996). On doing the decision: Effects of active versus passive choice on commitment and self-perception.
Take desirable actions | Ease decision-making Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol 22, pp 133-147. http://www.insideinfluence.com/inside-influence-report/2012/01/how-to- 206
use-and-improve-actions-through-enhanced-defaults.html#more
Experiment: Active Choice

Group 3:  
Group 1:   Enhanced Active Choice
Group 2:   (Consequences)
Opt-in Active Choice
“Check the box if you Check one of the following options:
Check one of the following
would like to receive a flu options: I will get a flu shot this fall to reduce my
shot this fall.” risk of getting the flu and save $50 (that I
I will get a flu shot this fall won’t spend on medicine)
 
42% 62% 75%
I will not get a flu shot this I will not get a flu shot this fall even if it
fall. means I may increase my risk of getting
the flu and may need to pay $50 (for
medicine).
Keller. P.A., Harlam, B., Loewenstein, G., & Volpp, K.G. (2011). Enhanced active choice: A new method to motivate behavior change.
Take desirable actions | Ease decision-making Journal of Consumer Psychology, Vol 21, pp 376 – 383. 207
http://www.insideinfluence.com/inside-influence-report/2012/01/how-to-use-and-improve-actions-through-enhanced-defaults.html#more
The user’s goal is to make the best choice

Decision-making: with the least amount of effort  
Dealing with (System 1 versus System 2).
Provide a wizard
complexity  •
• Offer in-line advice

• Provide a recommended option (and possibly
say why it’s recommended)
• Progress from simple choices to complex
(i.e., categories with fewer options)
208
Decision-making:
Domain Experts
• Display large set of filters/

facets (i.e., stock screeners)
• Customization (i.e., define
criteria by which to filter)
Take desirable actions | Ease decision-making fidelity.com 209

Decision-making:
Novices
• Pre-defined choices
• Binary decisions (Yes or No)
Take desirable actions | Ease decision-making fidelity.com 210

Decision-making: Options
• Offer a maximum 5 competing
People express more options
satisfaction with a decision • Two options that are too similar

when choosing from a leads to decision delay
smaller set of options. • You can increase adoption of a

particular option by making other
options less attractive (i.e., lower
quality, higher price, etc.)
211
Offer advice to
help people decide
Don’t just call it “Chat”
“Chat” with who, about

what?
Take desirable actions | Ease decision-making airforce.com kaplanuniversity.edu 212

A B
Which footer
call-to-action
increased
donation click
throughs?
Fillable form: 23% increase
Take desirable actions | Ease decision-making behave.org 213

III
Provide gentle nudges
Take desirable actions | Provide gentle nudges 214

A B
Which page
generates more
leads?
Version A has too many

competing CTAs
Version B: 59% more leads
Take desirable actions | Provide gentle nudges behave.org 215

Marketing sites: Clearly highlight one primary call-to-action
One primary CTA button Three larger CTAs, three smaller CTAs
Secondary CTA is an underlined link While secondary CTA is treated more subtly, other CTAs
are just as bold but smaller
Take desirable actions | Provide gentle nudges usaa.com godaddy.com 216
Use initial &

recurring nudges
Swedish blood donation service:

• Homepage has a visualization of
where the greatest need is
• Donors receive a text message
when their blood is given to a
patient
Take desirable actions | Provide gentle nudges geblod.nu 217

Order Effect
People tend to choose the first item
seen (but not always!)
 
To simplify decision-making, people
may rely on:
• Satisficing: Once they find the first
option that meets their criteria, they
stop looking at new options.
• Elimination: They eliminate
unsatisfactory options to reduce the
decisions required.
Take desirable actions | Provide gentle nudges title9.com 218

Zero Price Which would you choose?

Effect • A free $10 Amazon gift
certificate
• A $20 Amazon gift
certificate for $7
Take desirable actions | Provide gentle nudges Research experiment: Dan Ariely 219
Be careful setting
zero as the “anchor”
Don’t say FREE

unless it truly is!
EOD
Take desirable actions | Provide gentle nudges tmobile.com 220
Design Philosophy
Persuasive Web Design | Design Philosophy 221

Logical Design
People are rational
Design Theories They read before making
decisions
They don’t judge a book by
it’s cover
Persuasive Design
Much of our decisions are
driven by “gut” not “head”
Designs must appeal to the gut
first or they will fail.

• Talk to target audience

Research
Design for reality • Define desirable actions down to the page level
not for unicorns

Goals
• Assign value to measure desirable actions

Metrics
• Design for System 1 first

Focus
• Test hypotheses
Test

UX Conference
Therese Fessenden
#nngux @tbfessenden
fessenden@nngroup.com
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Therese Fessenden
#nngux @tbfessenden
fessenden@nngroup.com
Thank you! Last day at NN/g UX conference?

Please take 5 minutes to answer our
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short.nngroup.com/survey
I’m Therese Fessenden. 

UX Specialist @ Nielsen Norman Group
Past Work My Research

Microsoft
Advertising
Booz Allen Hamilton

Credibility
Freelance
Human behavior
US Army Reserve Usability
I also teach… Web Page UX Design
Measuring User Experience
Design Thinking
226
End-of-Day Review
Persuasive Web Design | End-of-Day Review 227

What types of persuasive

techniques are being used?
Persuasive Web Design | End-of-Day Review 228

Representative
Images
Persuasive Web Design | End-of-Day Review oracle.com 229

Priming
Persuasive Web Design | End-of-Day Review turbotax.com 230

Authority &
Social Proof
Persuasive Web Design | End-of-Day Review nltimes.nl 231

Consistency  
(Commitment)
Persuasive Web Design | End-of-Day Review booking.com 232

Automaticity  
(Providing a reason)
back
Persuasive Web Design | End-of-Day Review eBay.com 233
Resources
234
Books
• Influence: Science and Practice, • What Makes Them Click, Susan
Robert Cialdini
Weinschenk
• Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel • The Art of Choosing, Sheena Iyengar
Kahneman
• The Invisible Gorilla, Chabris and
• Predictably Irrational, Dan Ariely
Simons
• Emotional Design, Don Norman

• Nudge, Thaler and Sunstein
• Neuro Web Design, Susan
Weinschenk
235
Blogs & Columns

Susan Weinschenk Stanford Web Credibility Research
http://www.theteamw.com/blog/  http://credibility.stanford.edu/ 
Dr. Susan Weinschenk’s blog “…for people who want to BJ Fogg’s Stanford Web Credibility research.
learn how to apply psychology to understand how

people think, work, and relate.” Author of Web Neuro Marketing Experiments
Design
http://www.marketingexperiments.com/blog/  
“…the world’s largest collection of optimization-related
Christopher Chabris experiments and case studies, which is disseminated (free)…”
http://blog.chabris.com/ 
Psychology professor at Union College in Schenectady, Behave.org (Formerly WhichTestWon)
New York. Co-author, with Daniel Simons, of The http://behave.org 
Invisible Gorilla: How Our Intuitions Deceive Us A/B and Multivariate testing education and examples.
Dan Ariely UXMatters

http://danariely.com/  http://uxmatters.com/ 
Dan Ariely, expert on Behavioral Economics, author of Decision Architecture Column by Colleen Roller 
Predictably Irrational and The Upside of Irrationality. http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2010/11/decision-
architecture-helping-users-make-better-decisions.php
236
Optimization • Adobe Target

Testing • Google Content Experiments
Software • Maxymiser
• Optimizely
• Visual Website Optimizer
Behavioral Economics Toolkit: http://www.brainsbehavioranddesign.com/kit.html
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Copyright*©*Nielsen*Norman*Group,*All*Rights*Reserved.*Please*do*not*share*electronic*or*printed*copies,*or*post*to*the*web*or*your*corporate*intranet.

Persuasive Web Design

Please silence Breaks: PDF Make sure to Network:

Icons you’ll Good example of specific

Introduction | Today’s Goal 4

Today’s Goal | Persuade 5

persuade ≠ trick users

Today’s Goal | Persuade 6

Today is not about

• Sneak into basket

Today’s Goal | Persuade http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/consumer_rights/rights-contracts/directive/index_en.htm 7

Today’s Goal | Persuade http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/06/27/microsoft-pays-out-10000-over-automatic-windows-10-download/ 8

Ethics of Persuasive Technologies

Company benefits more?

Trust & Credibility

Persuasive Web Design | Trust & Credibility 11

Trust & Credibility | Disposition to Trust 12

A measure of the extent to which an

Trust & Credibility | Disposition to Trust 14

Trust & Credibility | Disposition to Trust 16

Trust & Credibility | Disposition to Trust 17

Trust & Credibility | Disposition to Trust http://www.edelman.com/insights/intellectual-property/2016-edelman-trust-barometer/ 18

“The research confirms the democratizing trend of recent years – the

A professor or person like yourself is now trusted nearly twice as much as

Trust & Credibility | Disposition to Trust http://www.edelman.com/trust-downloads/executive-summary/ 19

Trust & Credibility | Disposition to Trust 20

Adjust content &

Boost Credibility: 11 Tips

Trust & Credibility | Boost Credibility 22

Boost Credibility | Decrease cognitive strain 23

Decrease cognitive strain

• Believe what you hear

• Feel situation is familiar

Maximize • Use bold type

• Avoid low contrast

Use simpler language where possible.

Experiment: Messages in Verse

Boost Credibility | Feature real people 28

Boost Credibility | Feature real people Chartio.com, unbounce.com 29

Boost Credibility | Free trials 30

Boost Credibility | Free trials 31

Boost Credibility | Free trials Chartio.com, invisionapp.com 32

Boost Credibility | Localize your content 33

• Update on a regular basis.

• Include local testimonials, success stories, reviews

Boost Credibility | Localize your content www.blurtit.com 34

Boost Credibility | Appropriate humor 35

Boost Credibility | Appropriate humor computerbags.com waitbutwhy.com 36

Boost Credibility | Negative reviews 37

Keep negative reviews

Boost Credibility | Negative reviews http://www.technologyreview.com/view/425488/how-negative-reviews-increase-sales-online/ 38

Many bad reviews come from good customers

• Recommendation: Invite your best

Boost Credibility | Negative reviews http://web.mit.edu/simester/Public/Papers/Deceptive_Reviews.pdf 39

Boost Credibility | Negative reviews 40

Make it easy to see

Make it easy to see how many

Boost Credibility | Negative reviews amazon.com dell.com 41

Boost Credibility | Levels of commitment 42

Read more at:

Boost Credibility | Levels of commitment 43

Boost Credibility | Levels of commitment ancilla.edu 44

Boost Credibility | Levels of commitment proactiv.com 45

Copyright©NielsenNormanGroup,AllRightsReserved.Pleasedonotshareelectronicorprintedcopies,orposttotheweboryourcorporateintranet.

People default to speed & convenience  

Percentage (+25%): 44% 