Companies like Upworthy successfully use curiosity to drive many user behaviours, from initial visits through exploration, sign-up, engagement, learning and data entry to return visits, re-engagement, and purchase. This UXI Studio 2014 keynote walks you through the psychology of curiosity, and how to apply it to interaction and user experience design.
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This Stupidly Simple Trick Helped These Websites Multiply Their Clickrates: Designing for Curiosity
1. this stupidly simple trick
helped these sites multiply
their click rates
Sebastian Deterding (@dingstweets)
UXI Studio, December 15, 2014
cb
*Designing for Curiosity
Image: JosephB
*
16. Fasted growing media site in history1
6 mio. UU/m. in first 12 months1
90 mio. UU/m. in first 18 months2
79th largest US site in traffic3
3rd most fb likes/shares of any news site4
(1) Forbes, 2013 (2) Quantcast, 2013 (3) Quantcast, 2014 (4) The Whip, 2013
2012
17. Fasted growing media site in history1
6 mio. UU/m. in first 12 months1
90 mio. UU/m. in first 18 months2
79th largest US site in traffic3
3rd most fb likes/shares of any news site4
... with 7.5 articles per day.4
(1) Forbes, 2013 (2) Quantcast, 2013 (3) Quantcast, 2014 (4) The Whip, 2013
2012
35. unpredictability
Can I not reliably anticipate
the future of this?
relevance
Is the ability to anticipate this
relevant to me?
solvability
Am I able to resolve
that inability?
curiosity
unpredictable, positively relevant,
solvable, safe
safety
Is resolving this inability
dangerous?
fear
unpredictable, (un)solvable,
negatively relevant, unsafe
curiosity: a motive to approach novel stimuli
invitation
Links in the online version
43. six forms of
unpredictability
Links here, just click:
44. Curiosity
Curiosity drives us to explore actions with
potentially positively relevant outcomes we
can bring about (self-efficacy) but not fully
anticipate – if we get a promising invitation
to do so. Careful: If we feel the outcomes
might be negative or the actions unsafe, this
can stoke fear instead or in parallel.
▪ How might you make the outcome positively
relevant? How might you signal this to players
without giving it away?
▪ How might the outcome be somewhat
unanticipatable, inviting guesses to test?
▪ How might you give players confidence that they
can bring the outcome about?
▪ How might you reduce (the impression of)
potential negative consequences of taking the
action?
Instantiations: Conflict, Hide-and-hint, Novelty,
Possibility Space, Surprise, Uncertainty,
Unresolved complexity.
CU
Hide-and-hint CU
Uncertainty Novelty
CU
We are curious about novel experiences:
something potentially enjoyable we haven't
experienced yet has us wonder: "How does it
feel?" We follow a promise or surprise
signalling novelty if we feel we are able and
safe to do so.
▪ What experiences, interactions, content do
players know and expect in the given context?
▪ What haven't they experienced they might want to
know how it feels?
▪ How might you signal that the new experience
exists and is enjoyable without giving it away?
▪ Do players fear the experience might be
overwhelming, boring, or unpleasant? How might
you mitigate those fear?
Instantiations: Novel Content, Novel Interactions,
Novel Interfaces, Surprise.
We are curious about potentially positive but
uncertain outcomes. Especially when we
have a hypothesis, we want to test our bet
on "What will happen?" and "When?"
▪ How might you make the outcomes positively
relevant? How might you signal this to players?
▪ How might you vary and randomise what positive
outcomes follow an action?
▪ How might you randomise when an outcome
follows an action?
▪ How might you help the player seek and
hypothesise patterns in that randomness?
▪ How might you invite players to test their
hypotheses?
▪ How might you help players feel that they can test
hypotheses safely?
Instantiations: Action Probability, Betting, Hidden
Information, Loot Drop.
We are curious about potentially relevant
information and resources that are hinted at
but hidden. If we know about something, but
not its content, we wonder: "What is there?"
▪ What information or resources are relevant to
players at this point?
▪ How might you hide their specific content away?
▪ How might you hint at their existence?
▪ How might you signal their potential relevance?
▪ How might you help players feel that they can
follow that hint safely?
Instantiations: Cliffhanger, Fog of War, Hidden
Information, Locked Abilities, Locked Content,
Locked Items, Skill Tree, Tech Tree.
CU
Unresolved Complexity
We are curious about unclear meanings or
paths to a positively relevant outcome,
wondering: "How do I get there?"
▪ How might you make a situation positively relevant?
How might you signal this to players?
▪ How might you create a complex, non-obvious path
to or symbol within that situation?
▪ Do players feel confident they can find the path or
mearning? If not, how might you instil that
confidence?
▪ How might you offer leads that spark multiple
hypotheses for paths or meanings that players want
to test?
▪ How might you help players feel that they can
safely test these hypotheses?
Instantiations: Puzzles, Whodunnits.
CU Possibility Space
CU/AU
We are curious and feel autonomous in front
of an untested possibility space, wondering:
"What if …?" Possibility spaces emerge from
recombinable items or actions with no
prescribed goals and emergent effects that
feel unpredictable but over time, guessable
and reliably learnable.
▪ What actions and/or items might you offer to
combine?
▪ Do they produce a combinatorial explosion of
possible effects that are logical but not foreseeable
by you?
▪ How might you give players space, time, and
license to try their own combinations?
▪ How might you give openings that suggest new
combinations to try: constraints, traces of others,
random suggestions, or half-begun things?
▪ How might you make testing an untried combination
relevant – e.g. with novelty, competence, or self-expression?
▪ How might you help players feel that they can
safely test new combinations?
Instantiations: Building blocks, Editors.
Conflict CU/AR
Uncertainty We are curious and get aroused over
how a
conflict of information or interests will resolve,
wondering: "How or what will out?"
▪ What pieces of information or parties may clash in
the given context?
▪ How might you make the outcome positively
relevant? How might you signal this to players?
▪ How might you keep the end result maximally on the
edge?
▪ How might you provide and retain equally plausible
scenarios supporting each information?
Instantiations: Balancing, Dramatic Conflict,
Whodunnits.
Surprise
We feel good when our expectations are
positively broken: something novel and good
happens that we did not foresee. Such
surprises stoke curiosity whether there might
be further surprises in store, wondering: "Is
there more like this?" A first surprise can thus
become the hint in a hide-and-hint.
▪ What do players expect in this context (genre, level,
interaction, situation, plot, menu, ...)?
▪ How might you positively break these expectations:
something vastly more, better, or different?
▪ How might you first create or affirm the
expectations – and then positively break them?
▪ How might you not reveal the existence of
something positive for the player in your game until
you surprise them with it? (Think level and interface
design, but also packaging, marketing).
Instantiations: Easter Eggs, Hidden Information,
Panoramic Opening, Plot Twist.
We are curious potentially positive but uncertain outcomes.
Especially when we have a hypothesis, we
want to test our bet on "What will happen?"
and "When?"
▪ How might you make the outcomes positively
relevant? How might you signal this to players?
▪ How might you vary and randomise what positive
outcomes follow an action?
▪ How might you randomise when an outcome
follows an action?
▪ How might you help the player seek and
hypothesise patterns in that randomness?
▪ How might you invite players to test their
hypotheses?
▪ How might you help players feel that they can test
hypotheses safely?
Instantiations: Action Probability, Betting, Hidden
Information, Loot Drop.
45. Novelty
We are curious about novel experiences:
something potentially enjoyable we haven't
experienced yet has us wonder: "How does it
feel?" We follow a promise or surprise
signalling novelty if we feel we are able and
safe to do so.
▪ What experiences, interactions, content do
users
players know and expect in the given context?
▪ What haven't they experienced they might want to
know how it feels?
▪ How might you signal that the new experience
exists and is enjoyable without giving it away?
▪ Do players fear the experience might be
overwhelming, boring, or unpleasant? How might
you mitigate those fear?
Instantiations: Novel Content, Novel Interactions,
Novel Interfaces, Surprise.
CU
users
62. Surprise
We feel good when our expectations are
positively broken: something novel and good
happens that we did not foresee. Such
surprises stoke curiosity whether there might
be further surprises in store, wondering: "Is
there more like this?" A first surprise can thus
become the hint in a hide-and-hint.
▪ What do players expect in this context (genre, level,
interaction, situation, plot, menu, ...)?
▪ How might you positively break these expectations:
something vastly more, better, or different?
▪ How might you first create or affirm the
expectations – and then positively break them?
▪ How might you not reveal the existence of
something positive for the player in your game until
you surprise them with it? (Think level and interface
design, but also packaging, marketing).
Instantiations: Easter Eggs, Hidden Information,
Panoramic Opening, Plot Twist.
CU
users
user
78. how users typically see and expect newsletters to be
E-Mail address Register
We sneakily auto-sign you up for our spammy deals newsletter because our
marketing department told us to
79. how you see the kickstarter newsletter
“If it’s a secret and
that much effort, it
must be special...”
80. Hint-Hide-and-and-hint
hide
We are curious about potentially relevant
information and resources that are hinted at
but hidden. If we know about something, but
not its content, we wonder: "What is there?"
▪ What information or resources are relevant to
players at this point?
▪ How might you hide their specific content away?
▪ How might you hint at their existence?
▪ How might you signal their potential relevance?
▪ How might you help players feel that they can
follow that hint safely?
Instantiations: Cliffhanger, Fog of War, Hidden
Information, Locked Abilities, Locked Content,
Locked Items, Skill Tree, Tech Tree.
CU
users
users
97. Unresolved Complexity
We are curious about unclear meanings or
paths to a positively relevant outcome,
wondering: "What's the solution?"
▪ How might you make a situation positively relevant?
How might you signal this to players?
▪ How might you create a complex, non-obvious path
to or symbol within that situation?
▪ Do players feel confident they can find the path or
meaning? If not, how might you instil that
confidence?
▪ How might you offer leads that spark multiple
hypotheses for paths or meanings that players want
to test?
▪ How might you help players feel that they can
safely test these hypotheses?
Instantiations: Puzzles, Whodunnits.
CU
users
106. Uncertainty CU/AR
We are curious and get aroused over
potentially positive but uncertain outcomes.
Especially when we have a hypothesis, we
want to test our bet on "What will happen?"
and "When?"
▪ How might you make the outcomes positively
relevant? How might you signal this to players?
▪ How might you vary and randomise what positive
outcomes follow an action?
▪ How might you randomise when an outcome
follows an action?
▪ How might you help the player seek and
hypothesise patterns in that randomness?
▪ How might you invite players to test their
hypotheses?
▪ How might you help players feel that they can test
hypotheses safely?
Instantiations: Action Probability, Betting, Hidden
Information, Loot Drop.
112. Possibility Space
CU/AU
We are curious and feel autonomous in front
of an untested possibility space, wondering:
"What if …?" Possibility spaces arise from
recombinable items or actions with no
prescribed goals and emergent effects that
feel unpredictable but over time, guessable
and reliably learnable.
▪ What actions and/or items might you offer to
combine?
▪ Do they produce a combinatorial explosion of
effects that are logical but not foreseeable by you?
▪ How might you give players space, time, and
license to try their own combinations?
▪ How might you balance effects so that they are
neither unpredictably chaotic nor predictable?
▪ How might you give openings that suggest new
combinations to try: constraints, traces of others,
random suggestions, or half-begun things?
▪ How might you make testing an untried combination
relevant – e.g. with novelty, competence, or self-expression?
▪ How might you help players feel that they can
safely test new combinations?
Instantiations: Building blocks, Editors.
130. … that can fuel user engagement.
Attention
Positive emotional experience, brand
Exploration, first use, signup
Onboarding, learning
Engagement
Return visits, re-engagement
Social sharing
131. stoke it by inviting to a relevant, safe, solvable unpredictability
unpredictability
Can I not reliably anticipate
the future of this?
solvability
Am I able to resolve
that inability?
relevance
Is the ability to anticipate this
relevant to me?
curiosity
novel, comprehensible, positively relevant,
safe
safety
Is resolving this inability
dangerous?
fear
novel, (in)comprehensible, negatively
relevant, unsafe
invitation
138. Conflict CU/AR
We feel good when our expectations are
positively broken: something novel and good
happens that we did not foresee. Such
surprises Surprise
stoke curiosity whether there might
be further surprises in store, wondering: "Is
there more like this?" A first surprise can thus
become the hint in a hide-and-hint.
▪ What do players expect in this context (genre, level,
▪ How interaction, might you situation, positively plot, break menu, these ...)?
expectations:
▪ How might you first create or affirm the
something vastly more, better, or different?
▪ How might you not reveal the existence of
expectations – and then positively break them?
something positive for the player in your game until
Uncertainty CU/AR
you surprise them with it? (Think level and interface
design, but also packaging, marketing).
oh, and what’s with those cards?
CU/AU Curiosity
▪ Do they produce a combinatorial explosion of
effects that are logical but not foreseeable by you?
▪ How might you give players space, time, and
▪ How might you help players feel that they can test
Instantiations: Panoramic Easter Opening, Eggs, Plot Hidden Twist.
Information,
CU
We are curious and get aroused over how a
conflict of information or interests will resolve,
wondering: "How or what will out?"
▪ What the pieces given of context?
information or parties may clash in
▪ How might you make the outcome positively
relevant? How might you signal this to players?
▪ How edge?
might you keep the end result maximally on the
▪ How scenarios might you supporting provide and each retain information?
equally plausible
Instantiations: Balancing, Whodunnits.
Dramatic Conflict,
We are curious and get aroused over
potentially positive but uncertain outcomes.
Especially when we have a hypothesis, we
want to test our bet on "What will happen?"
and "When?"
▪ How might you make the outcomes positively
relevant? How might you signal this to players?
▪ How might you vary and randomise what positive
outcomes follow an action?
▪ How might you randomise when an outcome
follows an action?
▪ How might you help the player seek and
hypothesise patterns in that randomness?
▪ How might you invite players to test their
hypotheses?
hypotheses safely?
Instantiations: Action Probability, Betting, Hidden
Information, Loot Drop.
Possibility Space
We are curious and feel autonomous in front
of an untested possibility space, wondering:
"What if …?" Possibility spaces arise from
recombinable items or actions with no
prescribed goals and emergent effects that
CU
feel unpredictable but over time, guessable
and reliably learnable.
▪ What actions and/or items might you offer to
combine?
license to try their own combinations?
▪ How might you balance effects so that they are
neither unpredictably chaotic nor predictable?
▪ How might you give openings that suggest new
combinations to try: constraints, traces of others,
random suggestions, or half-begun things?
▪ How might you make testing an untried combination
relevant – e.g. with novelty, competence, or self-expression?
▪ How might you help players feel that they can
safely test new combinations?
Instantiations: Building blocks, Editors.
Curiosity drives us to explore actions with
potentially positively relevant outcomes we
can bring about (self-efficacy) but not fully
anticipate – if we get a promising invitation
to do so. Careful: If we feel the outcomes
might be negative or the actions unsafe, this
can stoke fear instead or in parallel.
▪ How might you make the outcome positively
relevant? How might you signal this to players
without giving it away?
▪ How might the outcome be somewhat
unanticipatable, inviting guesses to test?
▪ How might you give players confidence that they
can bring the outcome about?
▪ How might you reduce (the impression of)
potential negative consequences of taking the
Novelty,
Hide-and-Uncertainty,
hint, action?
Conflict, Surprise, Instantiations: Unresolved Space, complexity.
Possibility
139. Conflict CU/AR
We feel good when our expectations are
positively broken: something novel and good
happens that we did not foresee. Such
surprises Surprise
stoke curiosity whether there might
be further surprises in store, wondering: "Is
there more like this?" A first surprise can thus
become the hint in a hide-and-hint.
▪ What do players expect in this context (genre, level,
▪ How interaction, might you situation, positively plot, break menu, these ...)?
expectations:
▪ How might you first create or affirm the
something vastly more, better, or different?
▪ How might you not reveal the existence of
expectations – and then positively break them?
something positive for the player in your game until
Uncertainty CU/AR
you surprise them with it? (Think level and interface
design, but also packaging, marketing).
oh, and what’s with those cards?
CU/AU Curiosity
▪ Do they produce a combinatorial explosion of
effects that are logical but not foreseeable by you?
▪ How might you give players space, time, and
▪ How might you help players feel that they can test
Instantiations: Panoramic Easter Opening, Eggs, Plot Hidden Twist.
Information,
CU
We are curious and get aroused over how a
conflict of information or interests will resolve,
wondering: "How or what will out?"
▪ What the pieces given of context?
information or parties may clash in
▪ How might you make the outcome positively
relevant? How might you signal this to players?
▪ How edge?
might you keep the end result maximally on the
▪ How scenarios might you supporting provide and each retain information?
equally plausible
Instantiations: Balancing, Whodunnits.
Dramatic Conflict,
We are curious and get aroused over
potentially positive but uncertain outcomes.
Especially when we have a hypothesis, we
want to test our bet on "What will happen?"
and "When?"
▪ How might you make the outcomes positively
relevant? How might you signal this to players?
▪ How might you vary and randomise what positive
outcomes follow an action?
▪ How might you randomise when an outcome
follows an action?
▪ How might you help the player seek and
hypothesise patterns in that randomness?
▪ How might you invite players to test their
hypotheses?
hypotheses safely?
Instantiations: Action Probability, Betting, Hidden
Information, Loot Drop.
Possibility Space
We are curious and feel autonomous in front
of an untested possibility space, wondering:
"What if …?" Possibility spaces arise from
recombinable items or actions with no
prescribed goals and emergent effects that
CU
feel unpredictable but over time, guessable
and reliably learnable.
▪ What actions and/or items might you offer to
combine?
license to try their own combinations?
▪ How might you balance effects so that they are
neither unpredictably chaotic nor predictable?
▪ How might you give openings that suggest new
combinations to try: constraints, traces of others,
random suggestions, or half-begun things?
▪ How might you make testing an untried combination
relevant – e.g. with novelty, competence, or self-expression?
▪ How might you help players feel that they can
safely test new combinations?
Instantiations: Building blocks, Editors.
Curiosity drives us to explore actions with
potentially positively relevant outcomes we
can bring about (self-efficacy) but not fully
anticipate – if we get a promising invitation
to do so. Careful: If we feel the outcomes
might be negative or the actions unsafe, this
can stoke fear instead or in parallel.
▪ How might you make the outcome positively
relevant? How might you signal this to players
without giving it away?
▪ How might the outcome be somewhat
unanticipatable, inviting guesses to test?
▪ How might you give players confidence that they
can bring the outcome about?
▪ How might you reduce (the impression of)
potential negative consequences of taking the
Novelty,
Hide-and-Uncertainty,
hint, action?
Conflict, Surprise, Instantiations: Unresolved Space, complexity.
Possibility ask me about them after the talk ;-)
140. thank you.
@dingstweets
sebastian@codingconduct.cc
codingconduct.cc
slides at
j.mp/uxicurious
141. Conflict CU/AR
We are curious and get aroused over how a
conflict of information or interests will resolve,
wondering: "How or what will out?"
▪ What pieces of information or parties may clash in
the given context?
▪ How might you make the outcome positively
relevant? How might you signal this to players?
▪ How might you keep the end result maximally on the
edge?
▪ How might you provide and retain equally plausible
scenarios supporting each information?
Instantiations: Balancing, Dramatic Conflict,
Whodunnits.