Persuasion was Re: [Sigia-l] Why Good Content Must Suck: Designing for the Scent of Information - Jared Spool

[Peter Merholz]

> >  Think of all the kinds of kewl new
> > marketing buzzwords we can use to market ourselves and our discipline!
> > Like 'information scent' and 'findability!'
>
> Information scent is an old HCI term coined at Parc an popularized by
Jared
> Spool and it's an element of wayfinding, and a pretty important one too--
> the opposite of information giving scent is information begin hidden-- a
bad
> way to go, and often sinister in its own right.

It's worth highlighting some key texts on information scent:
PARC's Papers
http://www2.parc.com/istl/projects/uir/publications/project/#cc-is

Some media articles on it
http://www.computerworld.com/managementtopics/ebusiness/story/0,10801,71955,
00.html
http://www.parc.xerox.com/istl/members/pirolli/pirolli_files/NewScientist_pi
rolli.html

Jared appropriation
http://www.webreview.com/1998/05_15/strategists/05_15_98_1.shtml

Now, for the pieces on persuasive architecture:

> http://www.grokdotcom.com/persuasive-architecture.htm
> http://www.clickz.net/sales/traffic/article.php/1500731
> http://www.clickz.com/sales/traffic/article.php/1479791
>
http://www.digital-web.com/columns/ianythinggoes/ianythinggoes_2002-12.shtml

While they all kind of describe it, and some defend, only Lash's offers any
meat or depth to suggest what to do about it.

Folks interested in this topic ought to read about Captology
http://captology.stanford.edu/
(Computers As Persuasive Technologies)
a field of research being developed by BJ Fogg.

I've felt he should call it "Computers ARE Persuasive Technologies," because
among Fogg's research he points out that computers persuade, whether or not
that was a designer's explicit intent. BJ is not some evil marketing fiend.
He's a thoughtful, considerate, and concerned researcher, who feels that the
better we understand this aspect of computing, the better we can grapple
with it.

--peter