Sunday, 9 March 2008 - 3:30PM
“Better than chocolate, better than sex.” Even if nobody really MEANS it, what would it take to craft experiences our users would describe like that? In this new follow-up to creating passionate users, we’ll look at tools that can help take us there (including some fun science). We’ll cover some new, some retro, and some counter-intuitive techniques to take Cognitive Seduction to the next level. Best of all, we can do a whole lot of user wooing without having to change our product.
Kathy Sierra - Creating Passionate Users
What would you like to be really good at, but are not?
Likewise, how do we help our users kick ass at something?
In reviews, would you rather have users talk about the product kicking ass or the company kicking ass? Neither. Correct answer: You should have the users saying, “I kick ass.”
How do we reverse engineer passions so the the user has a hi-res user experience. Allowing the user to feel getting better and better at something?
Big news in neuroscience: neurogenesis and neuroplasticity.
Difference between fantastic and average: It is much less about natural talent and more about practicing - focusing on repetition. (Reference: article from SciAm)
Richard Restak: “We need a rage to master”
Users don’t care about your tool - just what they can do with it.
Book reference: Four-hour Work Week
1) Use Telepathy
Monkey’s brain fired sympathetically based upon the actions of the researcher - mirror neurons. You are not thinking what the other person is thinking - only simulating the activity. But the simulation resolution depends upon YOU. Motor neurons fire based upon the observer’s experience. If I have more experience of the watched activities then my simulation is more hi-res. For visualization, the way you visualize is important - the POV needs to be first person.
2) Serendipity
Our brains are pattern matchers. We are wired to see patterns. We need to bulid in randomness to create serendipity.
3) the Dog-Ears design principle
Example: the real-world physics of the iPhone - the bounce at the end of a scroll. it is about how things move. think about real physics
4) Create Joy
Think about joy. It is crucial to the user’s brain. Playfulness. (Lookup: Amy Jo Kim and Liz Danzico)
5) Inspire First-person Language
What can I do to inspire users to talk about themselves instead of the company or product. for example, Amazon reviews have a lot of “I”.
6) T-shirt First Development
What does it say that someone is one of your users (wearing your t-shirt) and they announce it to the world. What is it saying about them.
7) Easter eggs
User’s like them. Book: A Smile in the Mind
Tools for Evangelism
Get users to woo other users. Give them a means to do it. If they are passionate they just need a means. (See Twitter in plain English by CommonCraft). Gve people a way to explain what may be considered a waste of time.
9) You are a…
(activity: look someone in the eyes) Via evolution, this freaks us out becuase there is a predator reaction from staring. The fear of speaking to/facing others causes stress and it will inhibit thoughtfulness. Managing stress allows users to engage by managing fight or flight.
products to check out: Stresseraser and
10) Exercise the Brain
Example: Brain Age. the exercise that best helps your brain performance is real physical exercise. Optimizing your body for mental focus.
Help improve their body
11) Give them superpowers quickly
example: Electric Rain (user must do something cool within 30 minutes”)
12) ???
Expert really do know more. Example: Chess masters have the ability to pull from a massive number of patterns recognized from an actual game
Learn to do knowlege acquisition and representation
Bruce wilcox
paterns, paterns o best practices
14) Make your product reflect feeling
Tey to imagine how they are feeling - confused
15) Help reinvestment of mental resources into new problems
siggy magnuson
non-experts vs. experts ???
did not grok this one
Help users focus upon what is salient for the acquisition of expertise. Attention offsets: acknoledge that a fun thing is not the primary focus.
16) Create a culture of support
Recreate the hero’s journy for the user so they can become mentors for new users. Make them into a mentor long before they are experts. No dumb questions. No dumb ansswers either. this will encourage people to support one another. teach them how to ask and answer.
17) Do NOT insist on “inclusivity”
Example: jargon is good. passionate users toak differently. You may want to separate the new and expert users, but don’t for
18) Produce Seductive Opacity
mystery - Anticipation - curiousity
diane ackerman from deep play quote.
the digital world has raised the value of the tangible - the package. Example: the smile on the Amazon package. Unboxing as porn.
19) Atoms are not old-skool afterall
example Etsy and Make. digital products are not appealing to our physical senses. that is why networked, tangible devices are so popular. Petted rabits had lower choloesterol
Chumby
19.5) Special guest: Gary - the wine guy
His site encompasses all of what she is talking about.
(briansolace.com)
20) She never mentioned a number 20, but I felt obligated to have one.