Kathy Sierra from O'Reilly is presenting on creating passionate users here at Digifoo, and on the whiteboard she listed the following rubrics, under which I've put my notes from her talk:

Brain neurobiology There are more demands on our attention now then ever before. Your brain is doing everything it can to stop you from remembering -- that is the main brain activity related to memory. Trick the brain into thinking that something is important. Repetition, rereading fail. But! Novelty, Beauty, Shocking, Surprising, Sexy, Fun, Story.

Learning theory Have to get people involved and motivated in order for them to learn.

Game design Very successful at keeping people's attention. So much is about getting the challenge right -- the challenge must be meaningful and doable. Challenge-experience-resolution cycle. You have new superpowers after each challenge succeeds. Addiction, seduction, getting to the next level.

Advertising Marketing, Positioning Providing meaningful benefits: this product was designed just for you! A good salesperson ask questions first then addresses your hot buttons. Three iterations in from "Why should I care?" Connect xyz to abc. Let them figure this out for themselves as much as possible. Meaningful benefits. Some books: The Culting of Brands, The Substance of Style, Lovemarks: the future beyond branding.

Entertainment Paying attention to story. 30-second heros journey in each commercial. Surprising, yet inevitable (filmmakers pay attention to this). People remember the beginning and the endings most...have a lot of little beginnings and endings. The Big Finish.

Design Need to hit someone on a visceral level. Getting past the brain's barriers.

The thread that runs through all of this is: It's not about you, it's about: how do your users think and feel about themselves after interacting with your product. Metrics of the success of their books on Amazon reviews: use of the word "love", how many exclamation points. Do reviews use their first names and how many times they they talk about themselves positively in the review: I learned it, I rule. Appreciation, the high fidelity experience.

LINK | 1:04 PM | TB

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