seductive interfaces |
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The first step to creating a seductive experience is to differentiate yourself from the noise and competition of other attempts at grabbing the audience's attention. This might be done in an obvious or subtle way, but it is essential.
The steps to seduction:
1. Enticement: grab attention and make an emotional promise
2. Relationship: make progress with small fulfillments and more promises (note, done correctly, this stage can continue almost indefinitely)
3. Fulfillment: fulfill on the final promises and end the experience in a memorable way
Enticement is that initial contact, whether from an advertisement, the first screen, sound, or word, or the recommendation from a friend. At its core, is the need to differentiate this experience from all others. The key to successfully enticing an audience is to first get their attention, and then make a promise. This attention-getting device, the interface itself, may be loud, soft, beautiful, or ugly, but it must seek to differentiate itself from both its competition and its surroundings (its environment). Only by seeking an extreme of some kind can the product get noticed to begin with.
Think about your homepages or the start of the experiences you create as a kind of opening line, like the introduction you would make to a stranger at a party. You could handle this in a hackneyed, insincere way, or as an authentic interest in engaging your companion (or audience) in a conversation--hopefully into an eventual relationship. You might seem admiring, self-deprecating, enthusiastic, or humble. Perhaps it's more appropriate that you're confident, knowledgeable, and open. This should be left to the purpose, the situation, and the audience. Whatever you do, Yves Chebron reminds us to "Never, ever use hackneyed opening lines. If you can't think of anything outstanding to say, it doesn't matter. Nobody ever came unstuck with How do you do?"