Persuasive Technology

I've added study notes on Dr. Fogg's book, Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do. While the title seems alarmist, the book provides an interesting and well-researched perspective on the current and future direction of computer-based technology as an agent of influence, which is worth consideration by those who design and use technology products.

Where commercial interests are concerned, it's fairly easy to recognize the clumsy attempts of marketers to generate interest in buying product (though their methods are evolving to become more sophisticated and subtle), but focusing on advertising alone overlooks the vast majority of the attempts to influence the user. Implicit in every communication is the desire of the publisher for users to "believe this idea," and implicit in every application is the desire of the manufacturer for users to "use this functionality, in this way, toward this purpose."

As such, users do not recognize the constantly barrage of attempts to use technology to subtly adjust their way of thinking and the behavioral changes that precipitate. And what's more, those who develop, design, and product technology products are largely unaware of their implicit purpose in this regard, and the result is a clumsy, ineffective, and often misguided product that fails to accomplish its goals for the user and operator alike, and may even do unintentional harm.

The author's focus is largely on theory and practice. While he periodically strays into ethical territory, the majority of the book is an objective examination of the topic: what persuasion is, how it works, and how it can be used to effectively accomplish its goals (regardless of whether the intentions, methods, or outcomes a can be assessed as "good" or "evil").

It's also worth noting that nothing about this book is revolutionary: the theories of persuasion were laid down millennia ago by Aristotle in the Rhetoric, and psychological research into human behavior and motivation is several decades old, but I'm not aware that any other theorist has devoted the time to applying these old concepts to new media in an orchestrated or systematic manner, and the author concedes that research in this specific area is thin - and given that achieving "success" on the Web depends on the ability to exert influence over the user, it can be expected that interest and research in this area will increase, and the methods by which users are the subject of influence tactics will rapidly evolve in the near future.