IA Summit 2005 Keynote: Persuasive technology: Using computers to change what we think and do (BJ Fogg)

Session description

Raw notes to be polished later:

we have a responsibility as designers because we're advancing a view of the world (changing beliefs and behaviors) with our interaction designs

plan for impact to mitigate negative side effects (paddling vs drifting in the rapids)

one time behavior change vs behavior over time (ongoing relationship)
- make sure relationship "wears" well

CAPTOLOGY
- overlap of persuasion + computers
- increasingly uncomfortable w/ idea that computers can change the way we think and feel
*- decided to make his lab have point of view after he wrote his book: it's bad esp. when large orgs use tech to take choices away from us and _taking freedoms away from us_
- methods: tunneling, rubber stamping, reduction, piggybacking, tailoring, dangling carrot
- apps have moved from functionality to modifying behavior (e.g., Quicken)
- most interesting not business: relationships, health, politics

ETHICS
- our ethical responsibility is to educate people (not regulate or legislate)
- making commercials
- PAM, health monitor

PERSUASION STRATEGIES
- WebMD Health Manager, personalized health program
- work monitor

HOW DO YOU DESIGN FOR PERSUASION
- what do you want people to believe and do? (impact analysis: high importance to org success, and high feasibility to implement)
- nothing else matters unless it does those high impact things
- persuasion strategies with powerful impact: praise, persistence, barrier reduction, immediate rewards, pain & fear, etc., hope (lottery = "for a dollar, people get hope")

"FIRE" IN CAPTOLOGY (unpublished)
- War game as US Army recruiting tool
- rehearsing behaviors makes it more likely that you will do it in the real world
- good vs bad depends on what behaviors you're rehearsing!
*- video games are highly compelling because they're the best at _letting you to know your competency is increasing_
*- cause and effect relationships
- automated behavior modification: operant conditioning with computers
- classical = e.g., clicker training w/ dog (associate click w/ reward)
*- operant conditioning - it's not rational, it's working on you _even if you don't know it_
- computers can train you just like animal trainers train dolphins and dogs (e.g., slot machines)
- periodic reinforcement is more powerful than predictable reinforcement
- what sounds do people love & hate? online research allows us to narrow down to 'what sounds do Japanese men 30-39 love and hate?
- find what elements people find most favorable and make those most prominent

PERSUASION PROFILING
- large online retailer experimenting different methods on you to see what works and doesn't work on you
- collecting motivational profiles and selling them!
- mapping high motivation and high ability

SEQUENCING STRATEGIES
- beyond one-time persuasion strategies
- online research makes it easy to have large sample groups, and we can try lot more techniques and seeing what works rather than carefully tailoring strategies

WHO WE ARE IS WHAT WE CREATE
- dad's fingerprints on bowl that he made
- method matters
*- specialize (find some niche that you do better than anyone else in the world -- paradox: the more you specialize, the wider your impact)
- specialize in three things that in 40 hrs would make you a world expert
*- take risks (climb Cheops)
*- appreciation (being thankful), puts you right, grounds you ... changes heart rhythms
*- rebound (from failure)

- what is your True North? what is constantly guiding you?
- community: who is coming with you on your journey? we need to work together.