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the addiction design is the aspect to highlight. most of us here were, I think, fascinated by this new toy and we loved to program it and "play" with the code

• TeMPOraL 8y ago
  > but the design for "persuasion" or addiction is really a big deal. And remember, the actual term of the art here is "engagement". Every time you see it, think of "getting people hooked on your dope".
  • pnathan 8y ago
    engagement is slightly weaselly and covers both addictive behaviors and useful behaviors. if your app provides a service that is useful frequently throughout the day - say, a local news app for the sake of argument, high engagement should suggest that your app is useful. no one wants to build a useless app, and often we like knowing what's happening around us. but addiction is ... overuse. pushing people to use it, although there's no real benefit to be gained by the user. I liken it to alcohol. One glass a night isn't generally a problem (0.1 is actually more or less better). It's when you have, say, 6+ drinks (using the usual units) per night that it's a problem. and when you design for addiction in your engagement strategy, and target children... well... I would frankly suggest that there should be criminal liability involved.