Cold Constructs Blog

credit: hvhe1

It seems people are still trying to find ways in which humans differ from the the rest of the animal kingdom. Again and again we discover these “unique” human features in other animals. Yet we still search for the gap.

There is no gap. You’re a fucking animal — get over it. Look outside at the world around you. Do you see a particularly unique species? Just like other animals we use language, tools, mathematics and other abstract thought (watch documentaries about ravens or squirrels or dolphins etc.), plus we all murder, play, shun those different from us, cooperate, love… all traits seen in other animals.

If there was anything that separated us from other animals, it’s that we often look to the sky for redemption, as if there was something there that would save us all from this odd tragedy (clearly your gods have made the world so much better over the millennia). But I wouldn’t count delusion as a uniquely human trait either.

People can’t stand the fact that there’s nothing special about them. Against all evidence they will always rationalize anything to get them to feel better about themselves. This can be depressing, but there’s a reason for that.

Stubbornness aside, there’s an interesting lesson to be learned here: if you want to design pleasant experiences, flatter your users. Make them feel special. Pop up a smiley face every time they successfully submit a form. Ask them how they feel. Give them a useful tip for life. Just give them any kind of positive/thoughtful and personal reaction to their actions. You’d be surprised at how much positive feedback you’ll get afterwards.

Tags: psychology, sociology

This entry was posted on Friday, March 7th, 2008 at 2:54 pm. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.