Random snippets of articles, books, magazines, and websites that were striking at the time I read them.

Saturday, November 13, 2004

'Amazon Theatre' Sells

Amazon is doing something interesting this holiday season. They will be releasing five exclusive short films (approx 10 mins in length) on their site, which are freely available to any site visitor, all under the concept of Amazon Theatre. The first film stars Minnie Driver.

The objective of each film is to create interest in merchandise that's available on Amazon. The credits at the end of the film include not only the names of the cast but also the names of the various featured items which were used in the film. These items include clothes, mobile phones, accessories, and beauty products.

Featured products are also available with a 5% rebate if you buy using the Amazon credit card. [Note: I would probably have bought one of the items if use of the Amazon Credit Card wasn't a requirement to avail of the rebate.]

There are at least three objectives for doing this, as far as I can see:
  1. Drive traffic to Amazon's site just in time for the holiday season (achieved through the release of a new film each week);
  2. Highlight merchandize that otherwise would have been unnoticed by regular Amazon shoppers; and
  3. Increase the number of Amazon credit cardholders by keeping the rebate exclusive to cardholders and offering $30 credit when you sign-up.

I wonder if other sites will be producing their own films in the future.

Tuesday, November 09, 2004

Attractive things work better

Excerpts from: Emotional Design, by Donald Norman

The psychologist Alice Isen and her colleagues have shown that being happy broadens the thought processes and facilitates creative thinking...

When you feel good, you are better at brainstorming, at examining multiple alternatives...

Isen's results show that when people are happy, their thought processes expand, becoming more creative, more imaginative...

All these point to one of the main premises of Don Norman's latest book -- attractive things make people feel good, which in turn makes them think more creatively. Consequently, attractive things work better, because people find them easier to use.