McDonald’s, Toledo, Ohio, 1967. Image from DRB62 on Flickr. We’ve looked previously at the effect of portion/packaging sizes as a ‘choice of default’ architecture of control, and I’m aware that I have not yet reviewed Dr Brian Wansink‘s excellent Mindless Eating, which examines this and […]
All posts filed under “Retail”
![In default, defiance](https://imaginari.es/wp-content/themes/ubud/images/default-square-clouds.png)
In default, defiance
‘Choice of default’ is a theme which has come up a few times on the blog: in general, many people accept the options/settings presented to them, and do not question or attempt to alter them. The possibilities for controlling or shaping users’ behaviour in this […]
![Detailing and retailing](https://imaginari.es/wp-content/themes/ubud/images/default-square-clouds.png)
Detailing and retailing
The dazzle painting of HMS Furious, c. 1918. Image from A Gallery of Dazzle-Painted Ships A couple of weeks ago we looked at casino carpet design – a field where busy, garish graphic design is deliberately employed to repel viewers, and direct their attention somewhere […]
![Pier pressure](https://imaginari.es/wp-content/themes/ubud/images/default-square-clouds.png)
Pier pressure
  Deliberately routing users via a longer or more circuitous route is found in many forms (with a variety of intentions) from misleading road signs, to endless click-through screens, splitting up articles, periodic rearrangement of supermarket shelves, and so on. This kind of forcing function […]
![Cleaning up with carpets](https://imaginari.es/wp-content/themes/ubud/images/default-square-clouds.png)
Cleaning up with carpets
Following the recent post looking at aspects of casino and slot machine design, in which I quoted William Choi and Antoine Sindhu’s study – “[Casino] carpeting is often purposefully jarring to the eyes, which draws customers’ gaze upwards toward the machines on the gambling floor” […]
![The Terminal Bench](https://imaginari.es/wp-content/themes/ubud/images/default-square-clouds.png)
The Terminal Bench
Mags L Halliday – author of the Doctor Who novel History 101 – let me know about an ‘interesting’ design tactic being used at Heathrow’s Terminal 5. From the Guardian, by Julia Finch: Flying from the new Heathrow Terminal 5 and facing a lengthy delay? […]
![Persuasion & control round-up](https://imaginari.es/wp-content/themes/ubud/images/default-square-clouds.png)
Persuasion & control round-up
New Scientist: Recruiting Smell for the Hard Sell Samsung’s coercive atmospherics strategy involves the smell of honeydew melon: THE AIR in Samsung’s flagship electronics store on the upper west side of Manhattan smells like honeydew melon. It is barely perceptible but, together with the soft, […]
![Controlling Shoppers](https://imaginari.es/wp-content/themes/ubud/images/default-square-clouds.png)
Controlling Shoppers
The ‘anarchitect’ group, Space Hijackers* have an interesting A-Z of Retail Tricks To Make You Shop – mostly psychological – including a couple of fascinating examples which aren’t well known, e.g. “Supermarkets used to have a trick placing slightly smaller tiles on the floor in […]
![High frequency ringtone download](https://imaginari.es/wp-content/themes/ubud/images/default-square-clouds.png)
High frequency ringtone download
High frequencies being tested in the urban badlands: see, no teenagers here! A lot of people find this site through searching for something along the lines of ‘Mosquito high frequency anti-teenager ringtone’, and are presumably disappointed when they find that there is no such ringtone […]
![High frequency wave files back up again](https://imaginari.es/wp-content/themes/ubud/images/default-square-clouds.png)
High frequency wave files back up again
They’re back up (well, the wave files anyway), thanks to the Internet Archive.
![‘Labels on digital content should spell out how easy it is to move from gadget to gadget’](https://imaginari.es/wp-content/themes/ubud/images/default-square-clouds.png)
‘Labels on digital content should spell out how easy it is to move from gadget to gadget’
A warning label mockup* The BBC is reporting that the All Party Internet Group (APIG), a cross-party group of MPs, has made some intelligent – and interesting – recommendations about explaining DRM more fully to consumers: “The MPs’ report made several recommendations and called on […]
![A couple of stories from the Consumerist](https://imaginari.es/wp-content/themes/ubud/images/default-square-clouds.png)
A couple of stories from the Consumerist
“Is Sylvester Stallone Taking Over Your TV?” – anecdotal suggestion that some digital video recorders may be attempting to ‘push’ certain movie franchises in the run-up to release by recording (unrequested) previous titles in a series, or with the same actors. Well, this is totally […]