Recently, in an attempt to differentiate between “good” and “bad” uses of persuasive design techniques, the term “coercive design” is creeping into the vocabulary. But, is coercive design really a different beast, or is it just persuasive design used for bad purposes?
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Social data: Linking your toothbrush to your dental insurance
Frederic Paul at ReadWriteWeb discusses the issues that can occur when companies start mining your social data. Phillips have an internet-connected toothbrush that knows how much you brush your teeth. What if your dentist had access to this information? What if your insurance company had access and denied a claim for a filling because you didn’t brush enough?
My favorite quote (by Beth Comstock, CMO of GE):
“If you’re in business, you need social because it will get you closer to your customer… Feedback – that’s a marketers dream.”
New ‘Social’ Businesses Want To Know All About You. No Thanks!
Scam games designed just for in-app purchases
Justin Davis and Brian Altano at IGN made a video play-through of a game that takes in-app purchases to the extreme. Super Monster Bros by Adventure Time Pocket Free Games, written by Mario Casas, is potentially playable without purchasing extras, but the frequency of the purchase requests, their persistence, and their high prices are all aimed… Continue reading Scam games designed just for in-app purchases
Smartphones so desirable NY State Attorney General gets involved
iPhones and other high-end smartphones are desirable enough, small enough, and sufficiently publicly accessible that they have created a whole category of crimes, now described as “Apple picking.” 11,447 Apple products were stolen in New York City alone in the first three quarters of 2012. I wrote in the pattern “Create desirability to produce envy”… Continue reading Smartphones so desirable NY State Attorney General gets involved
Amazon Coins – new token currency, same old issues
Amazon announced today that it has introduced Amazon Coins, a token-based economy for use in their Kindle Fire app store. Although customers get up to a 10% discount for buying Amazon Coins in bulk, that discount is actually likely to lead to them spending more money, not less, on Amazon’s app store. You must buy Amazon… Continue reading Amazon Coins – new token currency, same old issues
Skylanders and the power of collecting a set
Wired magazine has a humorous article on the power of the Sklyanders franchise. Skylanders is a kid’s computer game with add-on extras. You purchase a real-world figure and place it on a USB reader (sorry, “Portal of Power”) to add the player to your copy of the game. Different players have different skills and powers,… Continue reading Skylanders and the power of collecting a set