IA and Marketing Sneezers (was Re: [Sigia-l] Site registration

[Andrew Boyd]

Skot Nelson wrote:

>
> sure. but how do you then apply these solutions without asking for  
> some form of registration?
>
> i've a very very clear understanding of how targeted marketing  
> efforts are produced.
>
> the question here is how they get delivered in an online context,  
> without the ability to observer behaviour, personas or scenarios.
>
> any targeted marketing effort is wasted if it's not delivered - and  
> if it's properly designed, it's ideally delivered to the intended  
> audience.
>
Hi Skot,

how do you deliver on any other design solution in a quantifiable 
manner? Registration is one way of tracking users, but there are lots 
lots more.

Here's a question for everyone that would provide a better answer than I 
could give alone: How many ways are there of observing web application 
user behaviour that do not involve voluntary registration? I can think 
of a few direct ways (cookies for one) and a lot of indirect ways 
(related sites and pages that track hit to "sale" ratios/channel 
tracking, log analysis on unique IP addresses, analysis of helpdesk 
tickets, anonymous feedback mechanisms such as "Guest" product reviews) 
but there must be a thousand other mechanisms.

I am not saying that registration is useless :) What I am saying is that 
registration is an option that should be used sparingly so as not to 
aggrevate the sneezers who ultimately pay the bills.

Cheers, Andrew