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Evil By Design
How to make customers feel good about doing what you want Approaching persuasive design from the dark side, this book melds psychology, marketing, and design concepts to show why we're susceptible to certain persuasive techniques. Packed with examples from every nook and cranny of the web, it provides easily digestible and applicable patterns for putting these design techniques to work. Organized by the seven deadly sins, it includes: Pride - use social proof to position your product in line with your visitors' values Sloth - build a path of least resistance that leads users where you want them to go Gluttony - escalate customers' commitment and use loss aversion to keep them there Anger - understand the power of metaphysical arguments and anonymity Envy - create a culture of status around your product and feed aspirational desires Lust - turn desire into commitment by using emotion to defeat rational behavior Greed - keep customers engaged by reinforcing the behaviors you desire Now you too can leverage human fallibility to create powerful persuasive interfaces that people will love to use - but will you use your new knowledge for good or evil? Learn more on the companion website, evilbydesign.info.
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First published January 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
October 31, 2017
This book was not what I thought it was. It was a selection for my UX book club, and it sounded like a fun title. Without reading that much about it and knowing the context, I thought it would hold some concrete tips for design. It did. It didn't. What this book really was, in my opinion, was a look at behaviour of people using our products and services and taking some lessons from those behaviours. Coincidentally, I am reading "Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman just now. I am reading it at a slower pace for a reading group at work. I sensed some echoes from Kahneman while reading what Nodder had to say. Perhaps this book is more of a behavioural economics 101 for UX people? I am fine with that.
I also thought of another book while reading this one. Machiavelli's "The Prince". Low and behold, (this is no spoiler), Nodder opens the last section of the book with a mention of Machiavelli and what he put into "The Prince". I could only smile. Machiavelli merely presented some data on how to survive as a merchant prince 500 years ago. Nodder is not a Machiavelli in the sense that we usually toss that name about! But Nodder does point out various behaviours - the behaviour of designers and businesses and the behaviour of users - and what the consequences of this and that can be. I look forward to finishing Kahneman's book and then coming back to skim this book once more.
I did have a few issues - which I did not mark so I cannot go back to them - where I found it hard to see why that exact example was a part of that specific sin. There were very few of those issues. All in all, it was a clever way to discuss what I would call persuasive design or nudging (with only a peripheral knowledge of those areas). I would that think that if you are serious about the topics in this book, you will move on to books like Cialdini's Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, mentioned in the reference section.
In short, this is a thinking book. What I mean is, there are no concrete work tips like use drop-down lists for this or use a chat bot for that. It's about thinking about what you are trying to achieve. If you are willing to make room for the user (which I argue you should be!), then it's getting inside the user's head and finding out what makes them tick and what can make them content and happy. It's the abstract side of work that is sometimes neglected in the rush to use the latest design trick on a website or in an app. It's about stopping up to think what is going on and what experience or journey is about to unfold. We do not know all the answers. Like Don Norman writes in his blurb on the cover of my paperback, "The seven sins are all around us, easy to spot. But the designs that apply the underlying behavioral forces that underpin the sins are harder to discern. That's why we need this book." Do like Don Norman did. Read the book and learn.
I also thought of another book while reading this one. Machiavelli's "The Prince". Low and behold, (this is no spoiler), Nodder opens the last section of the book with a mention of Machiavelli and what he put into "The Prince". I could only smile. Machiavelli merely presented some data on how to survive as a merchant prince 500 years ago. Nodder is not a Machiavelli in the sense that we usually toss that name about! But Nodder does point out various behaviours - the behaviour of designers and businesses and the behaviour of users - and what the consequences of this and that can be. I look forward to finishing Kahneman's book and then coming back to skim this book once more.
I did have a few issues - which I did not mark so I cannot go back to them - where I found it hard to see why that exact example was a part of that specific sin. There were very few of those issues. All in all, it was a clever way to discuss what I would call persuasive design or nudging (with only a peripheral knowledge of those areas). I would that think that if you are serious about the topics in this book, you will move on to books like Cialdini's Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, mentioned in the reference section.
In short, this is a thinking book. What I mean is, there are no concrete work tips like use drop-down lists for this or use a chat bot for that. It's about thinking about what you are trying to achieve. If you are willing to make room for the user (which I argue you should be!), then it's getting inside the user's head and finding out what makes them tick and what can make them content and happy. It's the abstract side of work that is sometimes neglected in the rush to use the latest design trick on a website or in an app. It's about stopping up to think what is going on and what experience or journey is about to unfold. We do not know all the answers. Like Don Norman writes in his blurb on the cover of my paperback, "The seven sins are all around us, easy to spot. But the designs that apply the underlying behavioral forces that underpin the sins are harder to discern. That's why we need this book." Do like Don Norman did. Read the book and learn.
October 26, 2017
Sloth, pride, envy, greed, lust, anger, gluttony. The list of seven deadly sins provides a nice, tidy statement of fundamental human behavior. Each chapter in this book addresses one of these sins, pointing out the human characteristics that enable software designer to create persuasive interfaces that appeal to each weakness.
The 57 patterns described in this book are strong mechanisms for persuasion. They can be used in digital and physical products to increase customer loyalty or to attract new customers. In addition, you can use this information to recognize and avoid being personally persuaded by these principles when they appear in sites you use.
But why should design be based on evil? Simple: starting with evil means starting with real human behavior. This doesn’t mean that the result is evil. It means that understanding what each sin represents ads to an understanding of people and good design results from good understanding.
The 57 patterns described in this book are strong mechanisms for persuasion. They can be used in digital and physical products to increase customer loyalty or to attract new customers. In addition, you can use this information to recognize and avoid being personally persuaded by these principles when they appear in sites you use.
But why should design be based on evil? Simple: starting with evil means starting with real human behavior. This doesn’t mean that the result is evil. It means that understanding what each sin represents ads to an understanding of people and good design results from good understanding.
February 22, 2020
An excellent book on evil design.
Is evil design to the benefit of the corporation done on purpose, or by accident? Some of the examples of this book really uncovered the underlying motives and seedy practices of design.
I learned a lot, and it was really fascinating how much influence you can have on someone by these little 'nudges'. Great information to know as a digital marketer.
Oh, and Chris is amazing on LiL.
4.3/5
Is evil design to the benefit of the corporation done on purpose, or by accident? Some of the examples of this book really uncovered the underlying motives and seedy practices of design.
I learned a lot, and it was really fascinating how much influence you can have on someone by these little 'nudges'. Great information to know as a digital marketer.
Oh, and Chris is amazing on LiL.
4.3/5
January 19, 2020
This is an edifying book that shows how online advertising or site design can make use of psychological techniques to prey on our fallibility to pride, greed, sloth, lust, gluttony, anger and wrath and to keep us buying and patronizing a product.
July 11, 2021
Why would software designers and developers intentionally create software that is unethical? This book, provides, perhaps inadvertently, a telling explanation. Nodder presents and describes the variety of methods used by software producers to persuade software consumers to behave in ways that benefit the designer. He frames the discussion in terms of the Biblical “seven deadly sins” as a way of linking modern uses of technology to aspects of psychology that have existed throughout human history.
While the book is engagingly written and informative (if a bit dated in its web site references), Nodder avoids taking an ethical stand against the use of these techniques. He leaves it largely up to the reader as to how this information is to be used, and has no qualms against explicitly providing advice to designers that could objectively be considered unethical. For example, in the chapter on Pride, he suggests that designers “Persuade your users to give you access to post to their social media accounts. You probably don't have to be deceptive …” and in the chapter on Greed, he recommends: “Artificially inflate the cost of your secondary object or reduce its feature set/desirability to make the primary object appear as a comparatively good value for money, even though it is more expensive.”
In a summarizing chapter at the end of the book, readers are given justifications for using persuasive techniques. The author points out that “There is a continuum from persuasion to deception.” and provides several anecdotes, including the use of an “anti-monster” spray for scared children and the use of a fake bus stop near a facility for Alzheimer’s patients to give them a sense of agency. First, it should be noted that these chosen cases involve precisely examples of vulnerable populations (children and those with mental illness) whose members should not be subjected to potentially unethical tactics. Second, these are undeniably exceptional cases, so even if these situations do justify the ethical use of deception, this does not make it valid for a software producer to conclude by extension that the use of persuasion or deception is ethical in the particular case they are concerned with.
Nodder even pushes back against the “Golden Rule” of persuasion proposed by Berdichevsky and Neuenschwander in their 1999 paper. As an argument against the idea that “The creators of a persuasive technology should never seek to persuade anyone of something they themselves would not consent to be persuaded of”, Nodder asks, for example: “Is it okay for a smoker to make an iPhone app to help others quit smoking?” and concludes that even deception and coercion “can be very practically applied toward positive ends.” Further, he reminds the reader that “it’s okay to make money,” suggesting that software producers will need to discover for themselves the “boundary that distinguishes good business practice from evil design.”
It's certainly true that software developers are not being intentionally evil - rather, they are driven by the same long-standing incentives, financial and otherwise, that affect all of us. But given the amount of persuasion taking place today via technology that many of us have become dependent on, it's worth asking if we want to live in a world in which developers are encouraged to use such tactics.
While the book is engagingly written and informative (if a bit dated in its web site references), Nodder avoids taking an ethical stand against the use of these techniques. He leaves it largely up to the reader as to how this information is to be used, and has no qualms against explicitly providing advice to designers that could objectively be considered unethical. For example, in the chapter on Pride, he suggests that designers “Persuade your users to give you access to post to their social media accounts. You probably don't have to be deceptive …” and in the chapter on Greed, he recommends: “Artificially inflate the cost of your secondary object or reduce its feature set/desirability to make the primary object appear as a comparatively good value for money, even though it is more expensive.”
In a summarizing chapter at the end of the book, readers are given justifications for using persuasive techniques. The author points out that “There is a continuum from persuasion to deception.” and provides several anecdotes, including the use of an “anti-monster” spray for scared children and the use of a fake bus stop near a facility for Alzheimer’s patients to give them a sense of agency. First, it should be noted that these chosen cases involve precisely examples of vulnerable populations (children and those with mental illness) whose members should not be subjected to potentially unethical tactics. Second, these are undeniably exceptional cases, so even if these situations do justify the ethical use of deception, this does not make it valid for a software producer to conclude by extension that the use of persuasion or deception is ethical in the particular case they are concerned with.
Nodder even pushes back against the “Golden Rule” of persuasion proposed by Berdichevsky and Neuenschwander in their 1999 paper. As an argument against the idea that “The creators of a persuasive technology should never seek to persuade anyone of something they themselves would not consent to be persuaded of”, Nodder asks, for example: “Is it okay for a smoker to make an iPhone app to help others quit smoking?” and concludes that even deception and coercion “can be very practically applied toward positive ends.” Further, he reminds the reader that “it’s okay to make money,” suggesting that software producers will need to discover for themselves the “boundary that distinguishes good business practice from evil design.”
It's certainly true that software developers are not being intentionally evil - rather, they are driven by the same long-standing incentives, financial and otherwise, that affect all of us. But given the amount of persuasion taking place today via technology that many of us have become dependent on, it's worth asking if we want to live in a world in which developers are encouraged to use such tactics.
October 2, 2014
It's an okay book on creating incentives and getting users to perform the actions you want. As the name suggests quite a lot of it gives examples of morally questionable tricks that would be difficult to blanked apply to any website, especially if you're seeking to retain users and trust. Which is not a criticism of the book, if anything it makes it perfectly clear what the expected consequences and result would be.
The author does give references, if sometimes anecdotally and sometimes on studies done in industries in the real world. I'm unconvinced that grouping the lessons by the 7-sins is useful or will help me recall any of the lessons in the future.
All in all, the book was more informative than I thought it would be.
The author does give references, if sometimes anecdotally and sometimes on studies done in industries in the real world. I'm unconvinced that grouping the lessons by the 7-sins is useful or will help me recall any of the lessons in the future.
All in all, the book was more informative than I thought it would be.
September 3, 2025
Evil by Design: Interaction Design to Lead Us into Temptation de Chris Nodder es un libro que revela cómo los principios de la psicología y el marketing se entrelazan con el diseño para persuadir, seducir o incluso manipular a los usuarios.
📌 Aprendizajes clave:
1. El diseño nunca es neutral → siempre guía al usuario hacia una acción.
2. Los 7 pecados capitales son atajos emocionales que los diseñadores usan: orgullo, pereza, gula, ira, envidia, lujuria y codicia.
3. Persuasión ≠ manipulación → la diferencia está en la intención:
• ¿Beneficia también al usuario? → ✅ persuasión positiva.
• ¿Solo beneficia a la empresa? → ❌ manipulación.
4. Pequeños detalles importan → colores, defaults, recompensas, exclusividad… todo puede cambiar la decisión del usuario.
5. El diseño es un juego → si el usuario siente que gana (aprende, progresa, disfruta), el diseño es justo.
✨ En conclusión:
Este libro es una guía imprescindible para entender cómo las apps, webs y productos logran engancharnos. Explica con ejemplos claros cómo se aplican los siete pecados capitales al diseño, y nos deja una pregunta ética: ¿quieres usar estas técnicas para motivar o para manipular?
📌 Aprendizajes clave:
1. El diseño nunca es neutral → siempre guía al usuario hacia una acción.
2. Los 7 pecados capitales son atajos emocionales que los diseñadores usan: orgullo, pereza, gula, ira, envidia, lujuria y codicia.
3. Persuasión ≠ manipulación → la diferencia está en la intención:
• ¿Beneficia también al usuario? → ✅ persuasión positiva.
• ¿Solo beneficia a la empresa? → ❌ manipulación.
4. Pequeños detalles importan → colores, defaults, recompensas, exclusividad… todo puede cambiar la decisión del usuario.
5. El diseño es un juego → si el usuario siente que gana (aprende, progresa, disfruta), el diseño es justo.
✨ En conclusión:
Este libro es una guía imprescindible para entender cómo las apps, webs y productos logran engancharnos. Explica con ejemplos claros cómo se aplican los siete pecados capitales al diseño, y nos deja una pregunta ética: ¿quieres usar estas técnicas para motivar o para manipular?
November 1, 2017
I read this for a bookclub meeting. The evening's discussion mostly revolved around the feeling that it was a somewhat forced book.
The idea of manipulating / directing the user by appealing to our inclination towards the seven deathly sins is fun. But the execution fell somewhat short. Many of the examples in the seven first chapters (one for each sin) seemed a little sought, and the author seemed to struggle a bit a distinguishing, for example, Greed and Lust. Lust became more ‘curiosity’.
The book was also clearly directed at an American audience. For example, "free" is not a plus in Denmark - we have a natural skepticism when stuff is free. "Cheap" on the other hand: We’ll take the plunge anytime! Some reflections on cultural differences would have suited the book. The sins may be universal, but they manifest themselves differently depending on the ‘congregation’.
We also missed examples of where our sinning could be used positively. It would probably go against the title of the book, however. But positive friction is somewhat more useful in our minds.
That being said, the last chapters of ethics when using this the of manipulation and the overview of the 57 ‘tricks’ were actually good. They gave food for thought - and were not as annoying as the rest of the book.
The idea of manipulating / directing the user by appealing to our inclination towards the seven deathly sins is fun. But the execution fell somewhat short. Many of the examples in the seven first chapters (one for each sin) seemed a little sought, and the author seemed to struggle a bit a distinguishing, for example, Greed and Lust. Lust became more ‘curiosity’.
The book was also clearly directed at an American audience. For example, "free" is not a plus in Denmark - we have a natural skepticism when stuff is free. "Cheap" on the other hand: We’ll take the plunge anytime! Some reflections on cultural differences would have suited the book. The sins may be universal, but they manifest themselves differently depending on the ‘congregation’.
We also missed examples of where our sinning could be used positively. It would probably go against the title of the book, however. But positive friction is somewhat more useful in our minds.
That being said, the last chapters of ethics when using this the of manipulation and the overview of the 57 ‘tricks’ were actually good. They gave food for thought - and were not as annoying as the rest of the book.
November 21, 2024
I am honestly not 100% sure how I feel about this book. There are aspects I liked and disliked. I think the framing in the 7 deadly sins was interesting, but I feel that with the almost sole focus being on "evil" design and a supposedly sarcastic "how-to" design for evil design I feel like was not a good idea. You can talk about this with "evil" examples and end with why and how to avoid this, and I cannot recall anything like that being mentioned; maybe the preface?
The examples were very interesting, but I feel like those who are either newer to UX/interaction design or are project managers/similar positions could easily use this with all the "how-to's" to create design for business, not users.
The examples were very interesting, but I feel like those who are either newer to UX/interaction design or are project managers/similar positions could easily use this with all the "how-to's" to create design for business, not users.
January 31, 2022
This book has opened my eyes to so many sneaky methods that are used on me to sell or make me engage with a site.
In fairness, these methods don't have to be evil. However knowing of their presence and understanding why they're there makes you think twice about your online behavior and many other things.
I need some time to really understand each pattern mentioned. At times it felt like it was so obvious yet I hadn't noticed. Other times I had to think for a while and accept that I got fooled.
Needles to say, I'm fascinated by this world of design principles and behavioral understanding. I can't recommend this book enough.
In fairness, these methods don't have to be evil. However knowing of their presence and understanding why they're there makes you think twice about your online behavior and many other things.
I need some time to really understand each pattern mentioned. At times it felt like it was so obvious yet I hadn't noticed. Other times I had to think for a while and accept that I got fooled.
Needles to say, I'm fascinated by this world of design principles and behavioral understanding. I can't recommend this book enough.
February 10, 2018
The book uses religious categories to structure dark patterns in design. Natural inclinations and curiosities of humans are archaically labelled as deadly sins and that terminology is used throughout the book. I see it as a categorical mistake. Is the use of ‘sin’ ironic? If it is, Nodder fails to communicate the irony.
July 8, 2019
An easy to read book that points out many tactics used by websites to steer and manipulate their users. Most of the insights aren't anything complex, pretty common sense stuff but interesting nevertheless thanks to many real-world examples provided.
June 25, 2020
If you have read books on bias, heuristics and behavioral economics, you will be familiar with most of the ideas. It is still a great collection and a great read for people involved in product/ux design.
September 7, 2020
A bit dated now, Evil By Design was a great look into how websites and other online services capture people's attention or their trust. I'm not sure a more recent book exists out there but many of the concepts described within are still put to use today. The tactics are just more refined now.
January 6, 2023
An odd writing style as the author reluctantly shares every trick in the book used by designers to overwhelm our willpower and dial up impulsivity. I read it in two sittings so it's a thumbs up for me!
February 11, 2024
Great book with lots of info about psychology and how businesses use it against us. I would say its definitely evil to use most of these things but good to know about. Some however could be used to do good.
March 13, 2017
Very interesting, enabled me to improve some of my UX concepts based on the psychology in this book. Easy to dip in and out of and good for design inspiration.
October 26, 2017
Great book to help understand the psychology and persuasion behind interaction design
February 15, 2019
I found this book very informative and full of strategies I have certainly unwittingly succumbed to.
April 15, 2019
Too repetitive. Unless you're a complete Newbie, this is just basic knowledge.
March 8, 2025
Outdated but I'll be able to put some things to practice for a good cause.
Wouldn't mind reading an updated version of this post Americas downfall.
Wouldn't mind reading an updated version of this post Americas downfall.
July 31, 2025
achei interresante
February 19, 2024
"Evil by Design: Interaction Design to Lead Us into Temptation" is a provocative read that I've shared with my entire company. It serves as a rallying point for our design team, highlighting how to motivate customers through design while emphasizing the importance of ethical practices. Despite its outdated references, the book's core concepts on influencing customer behavior are clear and compelling. It has inspired us to conduct "Evil by Design" inspired workshops with our enterprise clients, sparking discussions on the power of design and our responsibility to use it for good. This book is a must-read for designers and business leaders alike, offering valuable insights into the ethical dimensions of design.
January 23, 2021
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
July 15, 2016
Basically a behavioral economics book, applied to interaction design. Nice touch to categorize our biases in the seven sins. Great title too. So I didn't learn a lot of new things but it was nice to read the familiar BE/nudge-examples through a slightly different lens. Also nice that real applications are discussed instead of a rehash/summary of nice academic studies.
And this quote resonated with me (I work at a regulator): "Perhaps the regulators should insist that opting out take as few clicks from the homepage as the process of opting in, using links or buttons equally as prominent."
Quotes:
Sites capitalize on our weaknesses. Sometimes their intentions are good, but mainly they do this for “evil”—in other words to profit at our expense. The best sites manage to make us feel good at the same time.
Stupidity isn’t evil. People who create bad designs because they don’t know any better or because they are lazy aren’t being evil. Evil design must be intentional.
So evil design is that which creates purposefully designed interfaces that make users emotionally involved in doing something that benefits the designer more than them.
If you are caught doing bad things with user data, apologize profusely and then add more check boxes, explanations, and options to your privacy center, so it’s even harder to divine the correct settings.
These tactics are designed to wear consumers down. The harder it is to cancel the membership, the more people’s slothful behavior will kick in.
Perhaps the regulators should insist that opting out take as few clicks from the homepage as the process of opting in, using links or buttons equally as prominent.
The principles laid out in each of the seven deadly sin chapters can be applied either for good or for evil. How far you take it is up to you. There is a continuum from persuasion to deception. That continuum takes in everything from being totally open, through being economical with (or neglecting to mention) certain truths, through bent truths and white lies, to all-out deception.
And this quote resonated with me (I work at a regulator): "Perhaps the regulators should insist that opting out take as few clicks from the homepage as the process of opting in, using links or buttons equally as prominent."
Quotes:
Sites capitalize on our weaknesses. Sometimes their intentions are good, but mainly they do this for “evil”—in other words to profit at our expense. The best sites manage to make us feel good at the same time.
Stupidity isn’t evil. People who create bad designs because they don’t know any better or because they are lazy aren’t being evil. Evil design must be intentional.
So evil design is that which creates purposefully designed interfaces that make users emotionally involved in doing something that benefits the designer more than them.
If you are caught doing bad things with user data, apologize profusely and then add more check boxes, explanations, and options to your privacy center, so it’s even harder to divine the correct settings.
These tactics are designed to wear consumers down. The harder it is to cancel the membership, the more people’s slothful behavior will kick in.
Perhaps the regulators should insist that opting out take as few clicks from the homepage as the process of opting in, using links or buttons equally as prominent.
The principles laid out in each of the seven deadly sin chapters can be applied either for good or for evil. How far you take it is up to you. There is a continuum from persuasion to deception. That continuum takes in everything from being totally open, through being economical with (or neglecting to mention) certain truths, through bent truths and white lies, to all-out deception.
June 5, 2019
Another one of these like pop culture/ design/ psychology books I'm try to read.
It's alright, I'm glad I got this one at a library instead of buying it though. It reminds me a lot of Thinking Fast and Slow. The list of patterns and biases have much more focused use cases and it doesn't belabor the same points for too long. The main problem I had with this book was how it was sorted by deadly sin. I'd say those sins almost never correlate to the patterns listed within them. It was pretty shoe horned and I kept getting distracted trying to figure out how something like "Make the math hard to understand" was listed under Gluttony instead of Sloth.
The discussions in the beginning and end about persuasion vs deception were also interesting, again not worth buying the book for but had some interesting use cases.
The overall design of the book is also good, fancy paper, good layout, lots of pictures. I kind of wish he differentiated a bit more between the different 'levels' of evilness with the icons though. He has little evil mouse icons to show possible methods of implementing a pattern, whchi I would think would also mean that he can have normal and angel mouse icons to show how it can be used for good, like community accountability for weight watchers programs.
The case studies and descriptions of specific companies that use these practices was the most interesting piece. It'll probably make the book useless in 50 years, but it's really helpful right now.
It's alright, I'm glad I got this one at a library instead of buying it though. It reminds me a lot of Thinking Fast and Slow. The list of patterns and biases have much more focused use cases and it doesn't belabor the same points for too long. The main problem I had with this book was how it was sorted by deadly sin. I'd say those sins almost never correlate to the patterns listed within them. It was pretty shoe horned and I kept getting distracted trying to figure out how something like "Make the math hard to understand" was listed under Gluttony instead of Sloth.
The discussions in the beginning and end about persuasion vs deception were also interesting, again not worth buying the book for but had some interesting use cases.
The overall design of the book is also good, fancy paper, good layout, lots of pictures. I kind of wish he differentiated a bit more between the different 'levels' of evilness with the icons though. He has little evil mouse icons to show possible methods of implementing a pattern, whchi I would think would also mean that he can have normal and angel mouse icons to show how it can be used for good, like community accountability for weight watchers programs.
The case studies and descriptions of specific companies that use these practices was the most interesting piece. It'll probably make the book useless in 50 years, but it's really helpful right now.
March 6, 2021
Good list of persuasive design techniques shoehorned in a gimmicky format
I probably would've enjoyed this book more had I read it six years ago when I started to learn about persuasive design. Obviously the book wasn't published then, but even if you're reading it now and are fresh on the topic there are better options out there. Nodder paraphrases the classic behavioural economical research findings and books but adds little new to the table. I didn't like the format of shoehorning the psychological facts into the seven deadly sins, however this is of course the angle of the book so it'd be hard to get away from. The idea is great as we all love models and logical clustering, but I said shoehorning because that's what I often felt when I read the book. I would often think 'What does [topic] have to do with [current chapter]?'
What the book does well is listing a comprehensive number of design tactics based on psychology and (often) irrational behaviour. It might be a great book as introduction to the field of persuasive design, and it's written in plain, straight forward English.
I probably would've enjoyed this book more had I read it six years ago when I started to learn about persuasive design. Obviously the book wasn't published then, but even if you're reading it now and are fresh on the topic there are better options out there. Nodder paraphrases the classic behavioural economical research findings and books but adds little new to the table. I didn't like the format of shoehorning the psychological facts into the seven deadly sins, however this is of course the angle of the book so it'd be hard to get away from. The idea is great as we all love models and logical clustering, but I said shoehorning because that's what I often felt when I read the book. I would often think 'What does [topic] have to do with [current chapter]?'
What the book does well is listing a comprehensive number of design tactics based on psychology and (often) irrational behaviour. It might be a great book as introduction to the field of persuasive design, and it's written in plain, straight forward English.
February 26, 2015
I read more than half, then scanned the summaries for the last four chapters, which was good enough because the book was repetitive. Although the author provided examples throughout, my attention wandered because it felt so abstract. The device of structuring chapters around the seven deadly sins felt forced at times and simply repeated behavioral and economic research sited in more interesting books like Predictably Irrational. Also, many of the tactics felt truly evil, sometimes to the point of being unethical--such as paying for reviews on social media or obfuscating language to trick users into signing up for services. My skin is crawling!
October 18, 2013
Really nice book to read. Writing style is easy and most of the tips in the book I found very useful and practical. Companies are trying to trick you and use your sins to get money from you, so when you know those tricks you can see more clear what is going on. Moreover those tips could be used in your business and design process (in a good or bad way, it really depends on you). So in general - was a great read and would recommend to a friend.
January 14, 2017
I really enjoyed this book, mostly for its psychological take and for pointing out our many flaws and how susceptible to manipulation we are because of them. I don't plan on using the techniques described there to an accomplish a hidden evil agenda, but I will definitely try to keep them in mind so as not to fall into the trap of those 7 deadly sins. Because I am totally not gonna be persuaded by those evil tricks. Well, who I am trying to fool? Oh, poor me.
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