I spotted some Wellington City Council contractors erecting a solution the other day:

I guess putting up a barrier is much cheaper than paving the goat-track!  The day after I took this there was someone churning up the ground with a rotary hoe, so it’ll be back to a grassed area in no time.

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I doubt the goat track is much shorter than the paved alternative, yet there must be some perceived directness about it for a good number of people.  Perhaps it was first formed by those running to catch a green pedestrian light, like the guys in the first shot.  Whatever the case the path now seems to have a life of its own.  Enough pedestrians have taken the dirt route just to get to the waiting point that the entire area next to it has been completely stripped of grass.

Indeed, I must admit I found the dirt path choice quite compelling even though I wasn’t in a rush and could see the other pedestrian light was already orange.  It was probably the social proof of the well-worn track (“others seem to think it would be quicker, so it probably is”) along with the direct line-of-site to the other crossing that provided the appeal. And the fact that the path was already bare meant there would be no guilt in walking on the grass.

What’s bizzare is that we’ll choose that route even though it doesn’t really save us any material time.  In fact, even if it did save time, in most cases it would mean we just get to a waiting point quicker!

This ‘gravitational pull’ of shortcuts is frequently exploited.  Just look at the ads for 30-day weight-loss programs and get-rich quick schemes.  Even when there is little for us to gain we’ll take the short route so as to not miss out on just the potential for a mental, physical, or financial bargain.  It is unfortunate that the designers of this particular pedestrian crossing didn’t take it into account.  It might have made for a little less mud in winter.

Still, it gave me something to write about!

Here’s the area in Google Street View if you want to talk a stroll around it yourself…

View Larger Map

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Although many of his examples are interesting in themselves, it is worth noting that a number draw upon core psychological principles first put together 25 years ago by Robert Cialdini in a book titled Influence.  Cialdini studied how social norms and ingrained behaviours have a massive influence on our responses to the various stimuli we are presented with on a daily basis.  He grouped them into six general categories:

You can read a little more about each of these here, but it really is worth taking the time to read the book (most libraries will have it).  It presents both the underlying motivators along with specific examples of their expression in practice, so it is more useful than hearing only the examples themselves, which don’t necessarily lend themselves to application in a range of different domains.

Cialdini also recently co-authored a book titled Yes!, which presents summaries for over 50 scientific studies relating more-or-less to the six categories above.  It is a fascinating read.  Here are a couple of the findings:

• Tips increase by up to 23% when waiters give mints to their customers directly, rather than letting them pick the mints up from a bowl at the counter.  [an example of reciprocity]
• A hotel increased guest towel reuse rates (an environmentally friendly action) by 33% simply by changing the wording of the call-to-action message on a sign in the bathroom.  The most successful message suggested that others who had stayed in the same room recently had reused their towels. [an example of social proof, and also liking - we are influenced more by those who share attributes with us]
• Asking people to predict whether or not they will go out and vote actually increases the chance they will go out and vote (by about 25% points in the study cited).  [an example of social desirability bias combined with commitment and consistency]

There are many other examples in Yes! that translate the six general principles into practice, so you are bound to find some inspiration for mixing it up and applying the principles yourself.

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1. The performance improvement was measured in number of free trial sign-ups.  There is nothing wrong with that if Daily Burn has free sign ups as a key goal.  However, it is worth noting that the improvements in free sign-ups may have had the opposite effect on conversions to paid accounts.  One reason for this is that by reducing the possible actions on the page to one (sign up for a free trial) in the second set of changes, Daily Burn may be seeing an increase in sign-ups from tire kickers who just want to see what the ap looks like.  In the past visitors could click the ‘tour’ button to do this; now they have to go via the free trial route.   If the requirement to sign up also puts some other potential purchasers off before they get a chance to see the product, the net effect of the change may be to decrease the proportion of free trialers that go on to paid subscriptions.  One of the sites I read presented an example of exactly this issue a few weeks back; I think it was Marketing Experiments but now I can’t find the article (doh). [Update: here is a different example with a similar finding ]
2. Here is a link to the Paradox of Choice concept Tim mentioned.  I’m not so sure the original Gyminee page was overwhelming people with choice (causing choice paralysis) as much as providing too much of an opportunity to get distracted before clicking on the sign-up button.  Ultimately it doesn’t matter; the effect of the modification was positive whatever the underlying reason for the change in behaviour!
3. Tim didn’t specify the ‘conversion marketing best practices’  behind the design changes tested in the second half of the post.  Going by the screenshots presented, these included the use of testimonials (social proof), awards (authority), and specificity (specific facts are more persuasive).  Feel free to posts others if you spot them…

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