Chapter 8. Persuasion: the deadliest art
This chapter covers
- The components of persuasion
- Accommodating elements of persuasion
- Identifying areas for your design to address persuasion
- Discussing persuasion with others
- Applying persuasion in digital design contexts
Samantha is looking online for more information to make a decision on purchasing a new car. She wants a car that’s sporty yet safe. She has narrowed her choices and sits staring at the websites of the manufacturers of the last two options she’s considering:
- Car brand X shows a generic picture of a car and a word wall describing the safety features and awards the car has won. Samantha gets distracted before she can make it to the paragraph describing the safety features and awards.
- Car brand Y features a prominent picture of the sporty model Samantha likes, along with emblems and banners of safety awards the car has received. When Samantha hovers over one of the emblems, a concise sentence describing the award pops up. She happily loses the next hour of her life reading half a dozen articles about the car that the site links to, eventually deciding to make an appointment with her local dealer.
If Samantha would’ve stayed on the first car’s website long enough, she would’ve read that it had received the most safety awards in its class for the last decade. But the first car never stood a chance for long-term consideration, thanks to the persuasive elements of the second car’s website.