All posts by Jon Fisher

19th July 2012 by Jon Fisher | User Experience

More and more in recent years we are being asked to consider wider design problems than simply websites. The long predicted age of ubiquitous computing is fast approaching (or is already here). The layers of information are continuously building up and a method of representing them is now more important than ever.

In this post I share some thoughts for helping users form a consistent conceptualisation of a system. The aim being to design more meaningful cross channel experiences for users, irrespective of their chosen method of interaction.

3rd December 2010 by Jon Fisher | User Experience

To many online retailers, the holy grail of behavioural change would be engaging more customers in deciding to purchase! In a UCD ecommerce process what persuasive elements do we include and at what time? How do we “persuade and not force”? Exactly how hard do we push potential customers? This article proposes a potential framework for designing persuasive techniques into the design of an ecommerce website in order to maximise revenue and create great user experiences!

20th October 2010 by Jon Fisher | User Experience

Why do some websites have ten pages whilst others have 10,000? What makes a website big? I am not talking about how to do content strategy nor am I talking about analytic review and content pruning. I am asking a very simple question: why are some websites bigger than others?

16th July 2010 by Jon Fisher | User Experience

Recently every news article seems to refer to budget cuts as a result of the global financial meltdown. I have read 20 different articles and still do not feel like I fully understand the problem. How can I begin to understand such a complicated subject? How can the internet help me understand? Tools allow us to understand a subject through exploration and rehearsal without any risk if we go wrong. We all know the best way to learn something is to do it yourself! This engaged risk-free learning, I believe, is the secret strength of online tools. They persuade learning through a subtle and passive process.

1st April 2010 by Jon Fisher | User Experience

Many of the techniques introduced in my first captology article are applicable to the design of ecommerce websites. Unlike other websites which may have a diverse range of behaviours they want to encourage, ecommerce websites have a single objective, to make you spend money! How does the role of money impact persuasive web design?

1st February 2010 by Jon Fisher | User Experience

Whether negotiating million pound business deals or convincing a toddler that playing with the sharp knife is a bad idea, we have all tried to convince someone else that our opinion is worth considering. Persuasion is an innate human skill that we regularly use, sometimes without even knowing. Captology (Computers As Persuasive Technologies) is a new discipline that has increased in prominence as we continue to replace human roles with computers. In a busy market place perhaps captology can give you the edge you need?