economics and behavior

Most people have a naive view of money based on the model of the household budget. They're not used to thinking about money as an artificial token of exchange backed by the totality of productive capacity in the economy, whose purpose is to allow people to incentivise others to do useful things for them, such that if an accounting imbalance makes it difficult to pay people to do the useful things they're capable of doing, one way to get them working again might be simply to create more money.

Economist: Keynesianism... what is money?

A profound - and fairly succinct - expression of an idea I've been struggling with: how can we see money as something other than stuff (which it stopped being even a stand-in/symbol/representation of in the '20s or '30s with the end of the gold standard)? It's more like a catalyst, and it's definitely a form of communication.

- the government is responsible, alongside others, to incentivize people to work. (yeah "incentivize" is a neologism. get used to it.)
- money is both a store of value (though this function may be vestigal??) _and_ a tool for use in creating value
- the public doesn't get this, and even those few experts and/or politicians who do aren't super sure what to do with/about it.


An interesting observation from the comments: politicians can't admit to this deep/subtle understanding of money when the masses don't get it. Thus, we as designers need to help bring this new perspective into the popular consciousness before our governments can act in accord with the attendant reality (which is still less than perfect - I'm definitely remaining open to a better one!)

customer service #fail

Here's a short email chain that demonstrates an extreme terrible interaction paradigm. It's really making me upset, so I though I'd vent by posting it here. Godwilling, there will be no continuation to keep you updated about!

From aetnahealth@...[redacted] to daniel erwin

Hello,

For your protection, the content of this message has been sent securely by Aetna using
encryption technology. For more information about Aetna's use of encryption please visit
this website http://www.aetna.com/aboutaetna/safeguard_data.htm.

Steps to open your secure message:
1. Please double click on the attachment labeled securedoc.html to begin the process of
decrypting your message.
2. When you open the attachment you will see Aetna's secure envelope. This envelope
contains your encrypted message. There are two ways of opening the envelope.

Preferred method:

By clicking the "open" button you will be offered the opportunity to download a
small application (applet) that will enable you to open the message directly on
your computer (c: drive). By choosing this option and selecting "always" any
future messages that you receive from Aetna will be opened on your computer
without further installation. This method may take a few extra minutes initially
(depending on your machine and the speed of your connection to the internet), but
overall will result in faster / more efficient message retrieval.


Alternate method:

If you cannot, or choose not to download the application click on the link
labeled "here". This option will allow you to open the secure email without having to
download anything to your computer, but may result in slower retrieval of your
secure message.


Saving your message:
The securedoc.html that you clicked to begin the process actually retrieves a key from Aetna
which is used to open (or decrypt) your message. The key will expire in 90 days. If you would
like to save your message for later review, you should save a copy of the unencrypted message.
How you save email will vary depending on your email service. If you are unsure, please use
the help function of your email service and look for topics like: saving, saving messages, storing
messages.

If you experience any problems, please contact 1-800-237-7476, option 4 (Secure Email)
during normal business hours; 8AM to 6PM E.S.T.




This e-mail may contain confidential or privileged information. If
you think you have received this e-mail in error, please advise the
sender by reply e-mail and then delete this e-mail immediately.
Thank you. Aetna
securedoc.html securedoc.html
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From daniel erwin to studenthelp

show details 3:42 PM (0 minutes ago)

Hello,

For your edification, I'll explain in detail how and why I failed to open your encrypted message. For more information about user-centered design and how to make software that's easy for people to understand and use, please visit Boxes and Arrows Interaction Design Blog

1. I don't care enough about this one message to want to go through multiple steps to receive the answer. I asked about the end-date of my policy, not whether I'm covered for some horrible STD - I don't care if you post it on the front page of your damn site! Don't make me work for this - that's almost as bad as waiting on hold for 20 minutes.

2. I don't want to download anything and save it on my hard drive. Don't you realize this is how a hacker would compromise my machine? And I won't download it even to save a few minutes of getting the info another way, because I have no reason to believe your message didn't originate from somebody who picked up an Aetna employee's laptop from the back of their unlocked Honda in a bennigan's parking lot. In fact, this seems pretty likely, considering how strange it is that you're trying to use this odd method of showing me an encrypted message.

3. It's perfectly secure - and a widely-recognized standard - to send me a link that says "Please login to view your message."

4. There's no way I'm going to call your tech support line to fix an email. I only did this via email so I wouldn't have to get on the phone in the first place!

Good luck, and goodbye.
Daniel
- Show quoted text -

social gaming

Zynga - all the rage because of its fast growth and huge monetary value - is building on some of the same principles as the persuasive technology and behavioral economics trends. A new york times article today mentions that (at least some of the) users pay for virtual goods in games because they have so little time that it is a good way to connect and share with (apparently) relatives and friends who spend their time racking up points the hard way.
This is the same phenomenon that's been driving the gold farming industry in WoW, Everquest, and other high-investment games for more than a decade, but Zynga has figured out how to use the Facebook context to lower the barrier to entry and return some level of communication/sharing/togetherness for the investment of just 5 minutes a few times per week.
I've never played such games (for fear of getting sucked in - but maybe it's worth a few weeks of my life to understand such an important trend more deeply?) but I suspect that the relatively low investment required by these games results in a lower sense of community and less input into the game itself by the players. It seems the players would be less likely to form guilds, to build new levels, or to plan to be online all at the same time to collaborate, compared with your average MMORPG players.

NYT: Zynga next Google?

But it's impressive that Zynga has figured out how to monetize it. They've captured this idea that players will pay to have the game represent them in a similar context and with a similar status to family members and college friends. Basically, this is like paying to be represented as having empathy (like the $20 to get into a hip club on saturday night)? to facilitate communication (like a Hallmark card sent to an aunt)? Or is it more obvious than that - is it a space/medium/excuse for togetherness (like a game of Monopoly among any group of pre-adolescent acquaintances)?

In any of those cases, I'll argue that the next step for this business model is to incorporate it into a physical space. Like starbucks but with more emphasis on meeting and interacting with strangers (for even a shy person or someone without any particulars in common to get started talking to others about); like a bar or club without the emphasis on alcohol, dancing, and finding a mate; like facebook but embedded in a physical space. I'm working on the multi-user interaction model, so call me if you have the physical space part underway.