Persuasion Design is a framework for behavior management and conversion rate optimization. It is based on sound scientific principles in persuasion and social psychology, UX & interaction design, user behavior and data analysis.

1. Persuasion Design
A Framework for Behavior Management & Conversion Rate Optimization
Sverre Bech-Sjøthun

2. «Everybody knows»
That a website ought to meet
user & business goals

3. «Everybody knows»
That better usability =
Higher goal achievement

4. The percentage of visitors performing a valuable
action is your conversion rate

5. 90%
3%
7%
Definitely yes
Definitely maybe
Definitely NO
Sales
Potential

6. There’s much more
than just usability that’s crucial
for success…

7. Online
Revenue = • Visitors are mainly influenced by marketing, PR and customer loyalty
• Conversion rate and Average sale is mainly influenced by:
 Motivation to do desired action
 Ability to do the desired action
 Trigger to do the desired action
Visitors X Conversion Rate X Average sale

8. Persuasion Design
A Framework for Behavior Management & Conversion Rate Optimization
By: Sverre Bech-Sjøthun
A step-by-Step guide
Full blog post on: http://visualwebsiteoptimizer.com/split-testing-blog/conversion-rate-optimization-framework/

9. The challenge with standard split testing…
A
B
Winner
All website users:

10. Split testing problem:
One size fits all?

11. Persuasion is like cooking a curry
Same ingredients, very different dose.
(I like my curries so hot I get a nose bleed…)

12. The average psychological profile

13. Every single user is slightly different:

14. Segmentation is key to success

15. First
Identify
Target Behavior
• User objectives
• Business objectives
• Macro conversions
• Micro conversions

16. Then
Analyze
User Behavior
Qualitative
How they think
Quantitative
What they do
• Surveys
• Personas
• User testing
• Etc.
• Verify / tag data
• Web analytics
• Data mining
• Etc.

17. Use the
Behavior
model

18. UX,
Ability &
Self Efficacy
• Great UX make the system easy to use, thus
increasing your ability to perform the task
• Great UX also make the system seem easy to use.
• When something seems easy to do, it increases
your self-efficacy
• Self-efficacy is your belief in your ability to
succeed (in performing the task).
• The more you believe in your ability, the higher
motivation to complete the task.

19. Feeling (de)motivated yet?
Try it for real on:
http://www.drelvt.min-edu.pt/ccorrente/entnomespublico.asp
…or better yet:
http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/25059665/CustomerForm.html

20. Use the
Behavior
model

21. Identify
Test Candidates

22. Perform
Monetization
Modeling
Put a price on each page

24. Identify
Test Finalists
Most valuable pages

25. Form and write down your
hypothesis

26. Form
Hypothesis
• Test name
• Test number: X - Date: X july, 201X
• Hypothesis
• Psycological trigger:
• Solution:
• Result:
• What we learned/further tweaking:

27. Form
Hypothesis

28. Create
Tests
Persuasion psychology
Improve UX
and/or

29. 3… 2… 1…
Launch Test!

30. Identify
Winning
Combinations

31. Concept by Sverre Bech-Sjøthun
Design by Remi Evjenth Løvik

32. Fundamental
to persuasion psychology is the
following:

34. The
Habit loop
- Charles Duhigg

36. Cognitive Ease
The interplay between UX and
Persuasion Psychology

37. The two
«Systems »
• System 1 operates automatically and quickly, with
little or no effort and no sense of voluntary control.
“The emotional brain”
• System 2 allocates attention to complex computations.
The operations of System 2 are often associated with the
subjective experience of agency, choice and
concentration. “The rational brain”
- Daniel Kahneman

38. Great UX:
When you are in a state of
cognitive ease, you are
probably in a good mood,
you like what you see,
believe what you hear,
trust your intuitions
and feel that the situation
is comfortably familiar.
Poor UX:
When you feel strained, you
are more likely to be vigilant
and suspicious: you invest
more effort in what you are
doing, feel less comfortable,
and make fewer errors, but
you also are less intuitive
and less creative than usual.

39. Great UX = Cognitive Ease
…and allows your lazy System 2 to chill,
leaving the decision making to System 1

40. System 1
detected

41. How we make our
Decicions
• We all see ourselves as rational beings
• But we use our emotions to make the decision
• Then justify with logic:
Emotional
• This is called rationalization
• Reach the heart first, before fact are presented
• Persuade the customers to make an emotional decision, and they will
automatically rationalize, thus cementing the decision. The sale is yours.
Rational

42. Cialdini’s
6 Principles of Persuasion

43. Reciprocity
• If you give me something, and I owe you
• Do me a favor, and I owe you
• “Free” sample or “Free” trial
• We are obligated to give
• We are obligated to receive
• We are obligated to reciprocate

44. Commitment/
Consistency
• Reliability is a highly valued personal trait in society
• Say “A” and you must say “B”
• If you agree to something, then you are obliged to keep your promise
• Ask for a small favor first – it’ll be easier to ask for more later
• Multiple step conversion process – like a whishlist
• Contest: “Why do you LOVE [yourcompany]?” via Facebook Comment
• Written down + made public = commitment.
• Bonus: glowing testimonials that you can use as social proof
• Net Promoter Score:
“On a scale from 0-10, how likely are you to recommend us to a friend or
colleague?”
• Gives you a customer loyalty score – but people answering 8-10 are
obliged to act accordingly…

45. Scarcity
• Only 3 left
• Time limited offer
• Only 8 items per customer
• Exclusive/confidential/secret information
• Deprivation of liberty, limited options
• Concorde discontinued in 2003 – ticket sales boomed
• Sætre’s “Alphabet bisquits” drawn in 2001 due to low sales, relaunched
in 2007 due to petitions and massive demand

46. Scarcity
Scarcity/exclusive information
Instant gratification
The power of FREE [link]

47. Bonus:
Scarcity
(depreivation of liberty)

48. Bonus:
Scarcity
(depreivation of liberty)
A/B test:
Change header & CTA
140% increase

49. Bonus:
Scarcity
(depreivation of liberty)
A/B test:
400% increase
Vs.
Winner!

50. Authority

51. Authority
Trust me – I’m a photo of a guy with a lab coat…

52. Liking
• Visually or other ways attractive, sympathetic or pleasing.
• It’s hard to say no to a friend
• Send to a friend – “gift card to yourself and your friends”
• Compliments
• We are like you, we understand you – behavior mirroring
• “Good cop – Bad cop”-routine

53. Social proof
• When lots of people are doing it, it must be the right thing to do
• Acting like sheep
• Social proof is particularly effective when you are uncertain
• New brands may see a dramatic effect from social proof
• What does others say about you? Prove it!
• Testimonials
• Endorsements
• Expert opinions
• Diplomas, awards and nominations
• Security Certificates

54. Social proof VS.

55. Social proof
& scarcity
Full on scarcity
Social proofSocial proof of the scarcity

56. Social proof

57. Ratings and testimonials builds trust.
But in the absence of risk, trust is
redundant.
(trust-building elements could even introduce a sense of risk, and
produce the opposite effect.)

58. Social proof

59. Bonus:
Time
Perspective

60. Bonus:
Contrast

61. Bonus:
Contrast

62. Bonus:
Contrast VS.

63. The Contrast Principle
works on all 5 senses, as
well as cognitively.

64. Want to sell the 10 000,- bike?
Show them the 45 000,- bike first…

65. Bonus:
Contrast

66. Bonus:
Decoy effect

67. Bonus:
Decoy effect

68. Nothing is cheap or expensive by itself,
But compared to something.
(As such, anchoring the inexpensive first will have the opposite
effect.)

69. We’re all
Predictably Irrational…

70. A little bit of
Litterature
Social psychology:
1. Robert Cialdini: "Influence - Science and practice" 5th edition, 2008
2. Nir Eyal: “Hooked – How to build habit-forming products”
3. Philip Zimbardo: “The Time Paradox”
4. Carol Tavris, Elliot Aronson: “Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me)”
5. David J. Linden: “The Compass of Pleasure”
6. David DiSalvo: “What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the Opposite”
7. Elliot Aronson: “The Social Animal”
8. Charles Duhigg: “The Power of Habit – why we do what we do in life and business”
9. Daniel Kahneman: ”Thinking, Fast and Slow”
10.Dan Ariely: “Predictably Irrational”
UX:
1. Gerry McGovern: “The strangers long neck”
2. Steve Krug: “Rocket surgery made easy”
Web analytics:
1. Avinash Kaushik, Web analytics 2.0
2. Brian Clifton: “Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics”