I used to work in advertising, building interactive experiences designed to convince people to do things.
Usually, the thing I was trying to get people to do was to buy something. Or, to say it more tactically, to persuade people to click on a link that would lead them to a place where they would buy something. The foreplay to that all-important Click was often a little dose of clever, lighthearted entertainment.
But every element of that funny little time we were having together was nefariously calculated to get you to like me/my brand. Oh hi there! Hey, here’s a funny Old Spice Guy doing a random thing. Haha! He’s riding a horse with diamonds pouring out of his hand! Now you like Old Spice, because you think Old Spice understands your sense of humor. Old Spice understands you! Now you’re more willing to click that Old Spice Link because of the emotional bond (whether you are aware of it or not) we have forged. And so on. Persuasion design.
Now I work for National Public Radio. I’m still in the persuasion business. I’m still using my abilities to channel user behavior to an intended purpose. But in my new non-profit world, two large pieces of the puzzle have changed.
The most obvious one: motive. Clicking on links and getting you places is still an important goal, though the links typically don’t take you places to buy things. But I’m still sucking people into funnels. Oh hi! You like books? Haha! Here’s a thoughtfully crafted experience artfully designed to resonate with you based of your bookwormish proclivities! Haha! Look! This information is arrayed in a way that convinces you to engage with the content! NPR understands you at a deep fundamental level! You should click on this! And so on.
On my new planet, forging those emotional bond is a shared responsibility. The NPR editorial staff is tasked with writing content that matters to our “target market,” to use a term from my Old World. My job is to put the goods in the store window in an effective manner.
Which brings me to the second big piece: the fire hose.
In adland, interactive experiences are designed to be biodegradable. Subservient Chicken and Old Spice guy are flashes in the pan. I don’t mean that in a bad way; they are/were super successful. They held the zeitgeist in thrall long enough to sell shit-tons of hamburgers and deodorant. Both are experiences I would love to be able to say that I came up with. They are cool things. Beautiful Fabergé eggs of marketing prowess.
Designing Fabergé eggs at NPR would get me fired. Designing experiences that break or become irrelevant after a few months would drive our organization straight into the ground.
My new job is about designing fire hoses: semi-intelligent systems that can flex to the varying needs of the constant stream of NPR goodness (in my opinion) that we need to get out to the world on a minute-by-minute basis.
It’s making my brain hurt, but it’s really fun.