what's costly
Why is manipulative design cheap while permissive design is costly?
We know the tricks- the limbic hijacks to take over a person's attention circuitry, notifications to evoke curiosity, "Hot Deals" to soothe buyer's remorse, a smattering of fake-not-fake testimonials to increase authenticity.
These are a dime-a-dozen and effortless to cram onto our site.
What's hard is not taking shortcuts to build loyalty. Not using clickbait to gain viewers. Not advertising half-truths (or blatant lies, because sadly it needs to be said).
When we give our whole pitch from a place of respect for human attention and dignity, it looks different- and it's much harder...
But not really. Because long-term trust is built. More opportunities for a strong customer base appear. More opportunities to resist the race to the bottom mentality means elevating our collective ethical restraint and integrity.
You put in the premium for trust, and the work pays for itself.
The best shortcut, in this case, is no shortcut at all.
Seth Godin on Permission Marketting
What did you notice today? ///