Captology is the study of computers as persuasive technologies. This includes the design, research, and analysis of interactive computing products (computers, mobile phones, websites, wireless technologies, mobile applications, video games, etc.) created for the purpose of changing people’s attitudes or behaviors. BJ Fogg derived the term captology in 1996 from an acronym: Computers As Persuasive Technologies = CAPT.
- Jane McGonigal has popularized ‘gamification’. I agree with her wholeheartedly, “we need to make [products] work more like a game.”
- David McCandless inspires us to turn boring data spreadsheets into concise visualizations that help us to see issues from different viewpoints.
- Jill Bolte Taylor, neuro-anatomist and brain scientists inspires us to understand cognitive processing and brain games.
- Steve Krug author of Don’t Make Me Think and Rocket Surgery Made Easy and bagel lover and is renowned for saying “If you really want to know if your Web site works, ask your next door neighbor to try using it, while you watch. (You bring the beer.)”
- Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind where he shares insights and techniques for “changing [the] world of work.”
- Lisa Gansky, author of The Mesh is an iconoclast with a clear and insightful philosophy on “Why The Future of Business is Sharing.”
- Susan Weinschenk continues to highlight the importance of contextual inquiry. I recommend her posting: “What Makes Them Click: Applying Psychology to Understand How People Think, Work, and Relate.”