Guiding Users with Persuasive Design: An Interview with Andrew Chak

An easy way to define persuasive web design is to contrast it with usable design. Usability focuses on giving users the ability to complete a transaction if they so desire. A usable site makes it easy for users to complete transactions, from buying products to convincing users to read featured articles. Unfortunately, having a usable web site is not always enough to convince users to transact. Even if a user can complete a transaction on your site, doesn't mean that they will transact. To be successful, sites must go beyond Usability by focusing on Persuasive Design.

Perfetti, Christine and Andrew Chak. User Interface Engineering (2003). Articles>Interviews>Usability>Persuasive Design

An Introduction to Persuasive Design

Many users are highly motivated to complete tasks before they begin and before any external motivation is provided. In other words, usability can easily be an umbrella that covers persuasion.

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (2008). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Persuasive Design

Persuasive Design and Usability: What Is Our Role as Usability Professionals?

Changing people's attitudes and behaviors for the good could help us to make this world a better place. And turning this world into a better one is one of the key drivers for most of the usability people I know. Most of them don't advocate usability for the money; they want to help make things and consequently life easier.

Zimmermann, Silvia. Usability Professionals Association (2007). Articles>Usability>Persuasive Design