Persuasive Affordance

Definition

Example

Reduce barriers (time, effort, cost)

Make it easy for people to do what you want them to do

One-click shopping on Amazon makes it effortless to buy something.

Increase self-efficacy

Help people to feel more effective in reaching the goals you want to support, for example by providing them with feedback that shows some success at achieving the goal.

A calorie tracker can give people a sense that they are actually doing something when they diet and exercise

Provide information for better decision-making

Give people information that will lead them to make the decision you feel is better for them (without misleading).

Carbon footprint calculators can show people  the effect of their activities is.

Change mental models

Change how people think about a situation so that they will act differently.

People have different mental models of how thermostats work - some think of turning up the temperature as increasing the flow of heat, while others think of it as changing the temperature at which the furnace switches on or off. The latter model tends to lead to  less energy use.  Thermostats could be designed to more clearly evoke a "switch" model to reduce energy usage.

Provide first-hand learning, insight, visualization, resolve

Give people a personal experience of the issue you care about so they will think about it differently

Provide people with pollution information tailored to their own city block to motivate them to take action

Promote understanding of cause-effect relationships

Represent the non-immediate consequences of people's actions

An electrical monitor that represents energy use by showing its effects on polar bears or sea level.

Motivate through experience, sensation

Give people bodily sensations (for example, through compelling visualizations) that change their behavior

Provide a virtual reality environment on an exercise bike that stimulates people to exercise harder.=

Establish social norms

Help people calibrate what behavior is reasonable or desirable by establishing a social standard

A water use meter that reports one's own usage compared to everyone else on the street.

Invoke social rules and dynamics

Use computers as social actors that follow social rules (e.g. if I do you a favor you should do me one)

Tell the user the app is proud of them when they do what you believe they should do.

Provide social support or sanction

Leverage people's desire to please and connect with their friends and/or to not be ashamed in front of them

Post writing goals on Facebook and update every day about whether one achieved them