oneux | designing experiences

opt in, not out

 image by Tenisha Rawlin on flickr

A recent article in DarkPatterns, discusses how online businesses use trick questions to get users to either agree to sharing their information with them (Wired) or inadvertentdly buy a service (Ryan Air). A more benign, yet sneaky approach employed by online marketers is the use of opt-out communication/registration questions. Typically this takes place when marketers wish to collect users' personal information to later contact them with offers, etc. The opt-out usually takes the form of a check box with negative text, something like: 'tick here if you do not wish to...' see example from Wired: 

 

 Why  is this approach insidious? Firstly it breaks the heuristics governing a check box, specifically that a selected check box equates to a positive, true statement. That is, by selecting a checkbox a users makes a positive statement, which in the marketing world would be that they opt in, agree to a business sharing their information, contacting them, etc.

Secondly, a key feature  of asking users to opt in - apart from legal requirements - is that all emals, materials, letters, any communication made is anticipated by the user. It confirms that the user wants to receive it, which makes it quite different to unsolicited advertisements. 

Finally, opt out questions take advantage of our tendency to not fully read online but rather scan text. Basically they rely on us not noticing and inadvertently opting-in.

All in all this does not make for an honest and fair start to a relationship. Is this really how online businesses want to engage with their customers?

paper prototyping

Good video example of paper prototyping. This is used as a promotion video for listening to last.fm on fring, but it is a good example of how to ptototype at a very low cost.

rhizomatic IAs

This sounds far cleverer than it actually is. Basically a rhizomatic IA is an IA that allows for multiple, non-hierarchical entry and exit points. Instead of a rigid linear structure represented by hierarchical IAs, a rhizomatic IA has no predetermined entry and exit points.
Why rhizomatic?
The name has its origin in the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari. In Thousand Plateaus, the authors refer to the rhizome which unlike trees or their roots, ‘connects any point to any other point and its traits are not necessarily links to traits of the same nature.. it has neither beginning nor end, but always a middle from which it grows and overspills. Unlike a structure, which is defined by a set of points and positions with binary relations between the points and biunivocal relationships between the positions, the rhizome is made only of lines.’
What has this got to do with User Experience?
Solutions, websites, services, that are based on IAs as we all know them drive users down dead ends. User journeys end when a site runs out of web pages for example, not when users want. Journeys are predetermined and based on business needs and priorities.
While users’ behaviours look like this (Image B)  websites are build like this (Image A). As a result users have adapt to that model. No wonder we all feel somewhat let down by our service experiences.

What do Rhizomatic IAs look like?
There is no single deliverable that can fully describe users’ multiple, non-hierarchical behaviour. You need a combination of well known existing deliverables plus a couple of new ones. All together they provide the necessary information that let you understand user’s behaviours and motivations. Which ones? I am currently working on them for a client so thanks to an NDA I have to keep it to myself.