Publishers of technology books, eBooks, and videos for creative people

Home > Store

Seductive Interaction Design: Creating Playful, Fun, and Effective User Experiences

Register your product to gain access to bonus material or receive a coupon.

Seductive Interaction Design: Creating Playful, Fun, and Effective User Experiences

Book

  • Sorry, this book is no longer in print.
Not for Sale

eBook (Watermarked)

  • Your Price: $30.39
  • List Price: $37.99
  • About Watermarked eBooks
  • This PDF will be accessible from your Account page after purchase and requires PDF reading software, such as Acrobat® Reader®.

    The eBook requires no passwords or activation to read. We customize your eBook by discreetly watermarking it with your name, making it uniquely yours.

    Watermarked eBook FAQ

Description

  • Copyright 2011
  • Dimensions: 8" x 9-1/8"
  • Pages: 240
  • Edition: 1st
  • Book
  • ISBN-10: 0-321-72552-2
  • ISBN-13: 978-0-321-72552-3
  • eBook (Watermarked)
  • ISBN-10: 0-13-211862-9
  • ISBN-13: 978-0-13-211862-0

What happens when you’ve built a great website or app, but no one seems to care? How do you get people to stick around long enough to see how your service might be of value? In Seductive Interaction Design, speaker and author Stephen P. Anderson takes a fresh approach to designing sites and interactions based on the stages of seduction. This beautifully designed book examines what motivates people to act.

Topics include:

  • AESTHETICS, BEAUTY, AND BEHAVIOR: Why do striking visuals grab our attention? And how do emotions affect judgment and behavior?
  • PLAYFUL SEDUCTION: How do you create playful engagements during the moment? Why are serendipity, arousal, rewards, and other delights critical to a good experience?
  • THE SUBTLE ART OF SEDUCTION: How do you put people at ease through clear and suggestive language? What are some subtle ways to influence behavior and get people to move from intent to action?
  • THE GAME OF SEDUCTION: How do you continue motivating people long after the first encounter? Are there lessons to be gained from learning theories or game design?
Principles from psychology are found throughout the book, along with dozens of examples showing how these techniques have been applied with great success. In addition, each section includes interviews with influential web and interaction designers.

Sample Content

Online Sample Chapter

Seductive Interaction Design: Are You Attractive?

Sample Pages

Download Chapter 4 Are You Attractive?

Table of Contents

Prologue .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . xi
1 Why Seductive Interactions?  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
    LinkedIn and Profile Completeness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
    Why seduction?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
    The iLike story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
    Beyond usability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
    It’s all about experiences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

SECTION ONE
Aesthetics, Beauty, and Behavior

2 Why Aesthetics? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
    What’s the connection? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
    Why aesthetics?  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

3 Are You Easily Understood? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
    Gestalt Psychology and a drinking game . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

4 Are You Attractive? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
    You remind me of… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
    Can you trust me on this?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
    Perceptions of time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
    Put it all together. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
    “Attractive things work better” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
    Stitching it all together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

5 Who Do You Remind People Of? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
    Aesthetics, associations, and Apple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
    Advertising and coded iconic messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
    Positive and Negative associations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
    Language and associations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
    Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

6 When Aesthetics Aren’t Attractive . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
    Curious implication 1: The good, the bad, and the ugly. . . . . 43
    Curious implication 2: When utility is beautiful. . . . . . . . . 44
    Curious implication 3: Context and character . . . . . . . . . . 45
    Curious implication 4: Is beauty subjective? . . . . . . . . . . . 45
    Closing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

7 The Power of Faces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
    Leaving your friends. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
    Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

SECTION TWO
Playful Seduction

8 Are You Fun To Be Around? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
    Use humor, when appropriate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
    A Case for Humor: MailChimp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
    Why bother making someone smile? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

9 Are You Unpredictable?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63
    Mixing surprise with rewards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
    Delighters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
    My personal annual travel report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

10 Are You Stimulating? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75
    Will the real Dopplr logo please stand up? . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

11 Are You Mysterious?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79
    Curious marketing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
    Venturing into the unknown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
    The information gap theory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
    Business application? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
    Specific motivation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
    Now what? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

12 Can People Express Themselves Around You?. . . . . . .87

SECTION THREE
The Subtle Art of Seduction

13 Small First Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93
    Shaping the path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
    Making a commitment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
    Sharing places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
    Picking up items placed on hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
    Completing a travel booking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
    Endowed progress effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
    Sequencing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100
    Shaping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102

14 Coming on Too Strong (and how not to!). . . . . . . . .105
    Fewer options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105
    Less text. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107
    Fun distractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108
    Creating the illusion of less by hiding information . . . . . . .110
    Hacking the visual system to make things simpler . . . . . . .111
    Less to think about  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112

15 Attracting Attention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
    Contrast and characters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116
    Shh! We’re hoping no one notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117
    Did you see that?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118

16 The Path of Least Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
    Default options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119
    The power of suggestion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120
    Convenience and personalized recommendations. . . . . . . .122
    Afraid to Let Go . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126

17 The Influence of Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
    Framing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131
    Anchoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133
    Let’s get personal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134
    Clear language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136

18 An Eye for Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
    Step one: Role-play the interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137
    Step two: Script the narrative experience . . . . . . . . . . . .140
    Step three: Break down compound requests into 
    simple next steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .140
    Step four: Minimize choices (at each moment in time). . . . .141
    Step five: Look for micromoments  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142
    Step six: Choose clicks over characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142

SECTION FOUR
The Game of Seduction

19 Real World Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
    Games are first and foremost about fun . . . . . . . . . . . . .149
    The Elements of Game Design  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .153

20 A Challenge Worth Pursuing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
    Back to the classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155
    A Real Challenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .161
    A quick note on status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163
    Challenges vs. goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165
    Closing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167

21 Making Things Difficult . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
    Playing hard to get. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169
    Using scarcity in commerce. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170
    Using scarcity to increase quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170
    Using scarcity to encourage participation . . . . . . . . . . . .172
    Why scarcity works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173
    Other forms of scarcity: Limited duration . . . . . . . . . . . .174
    Limited access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175
    Other forms of scarcity: Limited choice and calculations . . .176

22 How Are We Doing? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
    Unintended side effects of hypermiling  . . . . . . . . . . . . .181
    A little perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .182
    Serious games. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183
    Making a game out of e-mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183
    Closing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187

23 What’s the Prize?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .189
    Why do game mechanics work? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .190
    Performance goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .191
    Are you offering your users any performance goals? . . . . . .192
    The fun layer: Narrative, story, aesthetics . . . . . . . . . . . .196
    Closing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .197

24 Let’s Get Serious . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .199
    The Kano model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

25 Only the Beginning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
    The Rider and the Elephant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .205
    The Behavior Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .206
    A sense of purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .211
    One thing everyone is doing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .211
    “Show me the money!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .214
    Who’s on your site?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .214
    Final Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .215

Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .217


Updates

Submit Errata

More Information

Peachpit Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from Peachpit and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about Peachpit products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites; develop new products and services; conduct educational research; and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email ask@peachpit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by Adobe Press. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.peachpit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020