Framing Effective Messages To Motivate Your Users

Framing Effective Messages To Motivate Your Users

• By Victor Yocco


• November 11th, 2014


• Content StrategyUser ExperienceUser Interaction


• 0 Comments

What we contend in a user believe matters. How we contend it matters equally. The approach we support communication, or how we contend something, could be intensely effective during persuading people to start regulating your product (or to use it more).

So, how do we support messages effectively? This letter explains how pattern teams can do so in a approach that resonates with their users.

Help! I’ve Been Framed!

• Framing is how we contend something, regulating a “frame of communication.”


• Frames are story lines that make an emanate applicable to a sold audience. Framing is not lying. It is putting a sold spin (a frame) on significant details.


• Framing effects start when a summary support alters someone’s opinion on an issue.

For example, revelation someone that smoking causes cancer and that they should cruise quitting is not expected to furnish any long-lasting change in their opinion towards smoking. Most smokers have listened these disproportion all their life. However, smokers who perspective this (caution: video competence be unsuited for some viewers) video¹ by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that frames a consequences of smoking in a unequivocally striking way, have found it to have a long-lasting impact on their opinion towards smoking. In this case, both a summary and a middle make a video a some-more absolute support of communication.

How Framing Applies To Good Design

We have talked about framing messages, though what’s that got to do with design? Everything. Everyone on a UX pattern organisation plays a purpose in effectively framing messaging and design. Frames include of a words, images, metaphors, comparisons and display styles to promulgate an issue.

Communications consultant Mathew Nisbet², highbrow during Northeastern University, states³:

“There is no such thing as unframed information, and many successful communicators are skilful during framing.”

Nisbet creates it clear: Accounting for framing should be a partial of your altogether calm strategy. Good calm doesn’t only happen; it requires a same turn of fact that we request to a rest of your design.

Let’s check out some examples of framing, as good as how to use visible pattern to support a summary for larger impact.

Suppose we are conceptualizing for a bank that provides mortgages to clients. The bank’s aim demographic is upwardly mobile immature professionals: college graduates ages 28 to 35, with a domicile income during or nearby 6 total annually. Your customer would like these business to request for mortgages. Your pursuit is to support a summary of a public-facing debt page on a website.

The approach we support communication, or how we contend something, could be intensely effective during persuading people to start regulating your product (or to use it more). (Image credit⁴)

Framing Without A Visual Aid (Message Is Words Only)

You find by pre-design user interviews that users in a aim demographic mostly check out a stream annual commission rate (APR) when surfing your client’s website. You can support a APR for a debt as follows:

Today’s debt APR: 3.75% for a 30-year bound mortgage. Save today!

Potential borrowers don’t have many to get vehement about. The summary is short, that is positive. However, a 3.75% APR and 30-year tenure aren’t concepts that many people find now relatable. Is 3.75% good? What was a rate yesterday? What will it be tomorrow? Why 30 years? What can this seductiveness rate do for me over that length of time? Should we wait? It does contend “save today,” though I’m flattering bustling today. we should substantially wait. The bank doesn’t seem to be too endangered that this rate is going anywhere.

You can benefaction a same information like this:

Today’s debt APR is during an all time low of 3.75%. Complete a pre-qualification form now to close in this rate. This rate would save we adequate income on a $250,000 loan over 20 years to send your child to college when compared to an boost of only 1%, that could occur during any time.

You have framed a summary to motivate behavior: Act now! Rates could change during any time. You have presented a user with context to motivate them to request for a debt in a nearby term: Rates are during an all-time low. This means they were aloft yesterday or final week. This means they competence be aloft tomorrow or subsequent week.

While a 3.75% is still a rather ghastly concept, a user does see that this would save them adequate to send a child to college in 20 years — distinct a 4.75% rate, that unequivocally doesn’t sound like that many more, though contingency be. The user is meditative of carrying or adopting a child within a subsequent few years, that would make saving adequate to send a child to college over that time duration perfect. Also, it is transparent what they need to do next: fill out a pre-qualification form and get in hold with a debt officer.

Both of a examples above require reading and a low turn of grasp to motivate a user. This is where visible framing comes into play. Let’s use a same bank and aim demographic. When users land on a APR page, they see a following:

Today’s debt APR is during an all time low of 3.75%.

If we close in today’s low rate, your family will be means to relax in a dream home for years to come. (Image: David Sawyer⁵)

If we wait and rates rise, your new home competence not have room for a grandparents to visit! (Image: simpleinsomnia⁶)

Users will be many some-more encouraged to rivet in function that leads to their dream home (act now), rather than a unequivocally unhappy shed that competence not have adequate room for a grandparents when they revisit (wait). You have finished your indicate though putting a concentration on bargain a 3.75% rate, and we have preempted a user’s inner discourse from a initial dual examples.

Let’s cruise another instance of a impact of visuals on framing information.

Suppose we are going to be giving a display on glow reserve to first-graders. You need to squeeze their courtesy immediately or else we will remove them for a whole session. How competence we flog off a visuals in your presentation? Here are dual ways to support glow reserve and prevention:

First instance of opening slip about glow reserve and impediment (Image: DocStoc⁷)

Second instance of opening slip about glow reserve and impediment (Image: Wikipedia⁸)

Which opening slip do we cruise is some-more expected to squeeze a courtesy of a first-grader, or anyone for that matter? You have presented your assembly with a same information, though we will expected get dual unequivocally opposite reactions. Effective framing in this box means the disproportion between snores and cheers. The second instance will captivate many of your assembly for a vicious things that follows.

Now that we have lonesome framing and design, let’s demeanour during some tried-and-true techniques that we can use to effectively support messages.

Effectively Framing Messages Sounds Great. How Do we Do It?

Private courtesy is, predictably, on a slicing corner of selling techniques. However, nonprofits and a US supervision are good wakeful of a significance of effective framing. The CDC in sold has invested a lot of resources into researching how to effectively support open health issues, including fire, damage and smoking.

The routine described next for building a well-framed summary is blending from a CDC’s research-based guide⁹ (PDF, 1.35 MB) on framing messages for damage prevention. we also used this mutated routine in my thesis to emanate opposite messages to exam on zoo visitors.

Identify Your Target Audience

First, confirm accurately whom we are vocalization to.

You can brand your aim assembly in a series of ways. Involve as many of your core organisation members as possible. Have we finished any investigate on assembly segmentation? If so, start by formulating a summary that will interest to one of your largest assembly segments. If we haven’t discussed your aim audience, now is a good time to start.

I have one method for identifying a aim audience. Your pivotal assembly cannot be everybody!

If we cruise we can rise a summary that will interest to everybody during a same time, let me save we a bid by observant we can’t. Rather, we would contend opposite things to opposite people to motivate them.

One-size-fits-all doesn’t work with t-shirts, and it doesn’t work with messages.

In my dissertation, we targeted English-speaking adult visitors to healthy story museums, scholarship centers and zoos in a US.

Identify A Frame For Your Messages

Many frames exist. Choose one, and use it consistently via your messaging.

Examples of Frames

• Value-based
  
  We know that people make decisions formed on some-more than only a contribution alone. Values-based frames entrance users’ underlying values to motivate them to rivet in a preferred behavior. Common Cause has a guide¹⁰ on values and framing.


• Financial benefits
  
  This support highlights a financial advantages of enchanting in a sold behavior.


• Gain
  
  This focuses on what users will benefit from enchanting (or not engaging) in a sold behavior.


• Loss
  
  A detriment support focuses on what users will remove from enchanting (or not engaging) in a behavior.

Researchers ceaselessly examine¹¹ (PDF) that frames best motivate people to rivet in certain behaviors. If we are not in a position to examination applicable novel in method to select a frame, afterwards ask your UX researcher¹² to do this.

Framing Elements

Message creators need to cruise additional elements when framing a message:

• Urgency
  
  Messages are some-more constrained when they enclose “best,” “worst,” “first,” “last” and other disproportion that emanate a clarity of urgency.


• Persistence
  
  Users should confront your summary mixed times, in mixed places.


• Simplicity
  
  Users should be means to simply know a message.


• Use of metaphors
  
  Metaphors make epitome topics some-more petrify or understandable. Political communication¹³ (PDF, 277 KB) mostly uses metaphors.


• Use of visuals
  
  Visuals play a pivotal purpose in framing messages. The Frameworks Institute notes¹⁴ (PDF, 212 KB) that a significance of visuals doesn’t stop during a tender content. Message creators also need to cruise a chain and method of visuals.

Make A Strong And Clear Statement About The Product

What do we wish people to take divided from your message? You can’t assume that we can bury this underneath an avalanche of smart euphemisms or devious references to what your product does. Be clear.

Incorporate a following beliefs to emanate a clever and transparent message.

Use Positive Language and Avoid Negativity

Focus on how good a product is or how vicious a means is, rather than how terrible a alternatives are (doing that would only make your product seem reduction bad, not some-more good). If we expel stones during a competition, pattern zero though a same in return.

Highlight Personal Responsibility And Control: Empower Your Users

Your summary should categorically uncover how regulating your product will give users some-more control. For example, revelation users that your financial government program will put them in assign of their financial destiny creates for a many stronger summary than simply observant how many options a program provides for classification exchange in opposite categories.

Avoid Jargon (Your Field Doesn’t Have Jargon, Right?)

By avoiding jargon, we equivocate presumption that your assembly has credentials believe of your product. If your aim assembly is heavily concerned in your field, afterwards we competence wish to incorporate some industry-specific denunciation to make a stronger tie with those users. You don’t always have to aim a lowest common denominator; however, doing so allows your summary to be distinct to a broadest series of intensity users.

Include a Call to Action: Tell Users What You Want Them to Do!

Do we wish users to squeeze something, to get some-more information, to call their internal politician? Be pithy and direct. If we have assembled an effective message, afterwards be assured in observant what we wish a assembly to do with that information. Your message’s visible pattern is vicious to this point. Are we clearly displaying what actions your users should take?

For Longer Messages and Persuasive Essays

If we are framing a prolonged summary or an essay, cruise additional factors. A well-framed longer summary includes a following:

• A pretension or title that tells a reader what a summary is about and because they should care.


• No some-more than one pivotal message.


• A lead divide that captures a reader’s attention.


• A “nut” divide (i.e. a heart of your story — a sum go here).


• Relevant quotes to make a subject some-more relatable.

Your chances of successfully framing a summary boost by following a superintendence presented above. However, there is one some-more requirement to effectively framing a message.

Test Your Message

Test your summary before unleashing it on users. Don’t assume what people know or how they will know something. By contrast your message, we safeguard that your support comes opposite clearly.

Testing can be elementary and not resource-intensive. Everyone on a pattern organisation should work together here. Ideally, we would use a frame(s) we are deliberation to delineate mixed messages. we also suggest contrast what your organisation thinks are a misfortune one or dual messages it’s created. You’d be astounded by what resonates with users. This is a whole indicate of user research: You can’t assume what a user wants; find ways to get users to tell we what they want!

You can exam messages a out-of-date approach by copy out a designs, laminating them and entrance people in scenarios that would be standard for your product. Seeing how someone responds to a summary can be eye-opening. Pictures are value a thousand words, as are facial expressions.

You can also control investigate online. You can simply insert screenshots into consult questions regulating online consult software, such as SurveyMonkey¹⁵ or SurveyGizmo¹⁶. Many contrast services will also partisan participants according to your specific demographics. Testing by a use such as UserTesting¹⁷ is also unequivocally discerning and inexpensive.

Ask Seven Questions

Once you’ve grown your messages and designs, ask intensity users a following 7 questions:

• Does this summary make sense?


• How does this summary make we feel?


• What do we cruise this summary is seeking we to do? (Ask this even if a summary isn’t seeking for anything.)


• With whom do we cruise this summary will resonate?


• What would we change about this summary to make it clearer?


• What would we change about this summary to make it pronounce directly to you?


• What do we feel this summary does well?

And if we are comparing mixed messages, afterwards ask this doubt too:

• Which summary do we cruise resonates a most? Why?

The series of people we exam your summary on will count on a outcome we wish to achieve. Test on as many people as we feel is useful; don’t feel we have to control a investigate estimable of announcement in an educational journal. If we pronounce to 10 deputy users and they all give we identical responses, afterwards we competence be gentle relocating forward. Their feedback will during slightest give we discernment into intensity difficulty or disagreement of a vernacular in your messages. If a responses are varied, afterwards your summary is substantially not entrance opposite clearly. Incorporate a feedback above to make a summary clearer, and afterwards retest a new message.

I tested my thesis messages with visitors to a internal art museum before deploying them in my studies. we tested any summary on 20 visitors, seeking them either a summary was clear. we asked participants to brand that support they felt we was regulating (to safeguard that we had framed a messages clearly). we also used my cabinet of four, any with a PhD, to check a peculiarity of a messages. Then, we conducted investigate regulating a series of consult questions to establish characteristics of visitors and how they viewed a messages.

Other Methods of Testing

You can exam messages regulating other methods as well. For example, we could poise a same questions listed above to a concentration group. A/B testing¹⁸ will also exhibit that of dual (or more) messages users prefer.

Putting It All Together

We’ve lonesome how to effectively support a message, and how to exam it before implementation. Design teams need to give deeper suspicion to how they are conveying their message, not only what they are saying. Outlined above is a routine for formulating and contrast a message, that will assistance we promulgate clearly and effectively with users. Your messages will ring with them. Use this information to reassess your stream messaging, and to pierce brazen with destiny messaging.

Additional Resources

• Do Loss-Framed Persuasive Messages Engender Greater Message Processing Than Do Gain-Framed Messages? A Meta-Analytic Review¹⁹,” Daniel J. O’Keefe and Jakob D. Jensen, Communication Studies, Volume 59, Issue 1, 2008


• “The Strategic Use of Gain- and Loss-Framed Messages to Promote Healthy Behavior: How Theory Can Inform Practice²⁰,” Alexander J. Rothman, Roger D. Bartels, Jhon Wlaschin and Peter Salovey, Journal of Communication
  
  Volume 56, Aug 2006


• To Motivate Healthy Behavior, It’s Often Not What You Say, But How You Say It²¹,” American Psychological Association

(cc, al, il, ml)

Footnotes

1. 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zWB4dLYChM


2. 2 https://twitter.com/MCNisbet


3. 3 http://www.environmentmagazine.org/Archives/Back%20Issues/March-April%202009/Nisbet-full.html


4. 4 http://www.monash.edu.au/study/options/courses/communications-media.html


5. 5 https://www.flickr.com/photos/18702768@N04/2983024881


6. 6 https://www.flickr.com/photos/simpleinsomnia/12418747924/in/photolist-jVpk6w-mQoVAt-9LFXXN-99iWsp-eiSc3x-6ehgmk-nDQ7RM-FzDX-26FLj-cbSpU-d4NSgC-72b66a-d4NS85-fQcvc9-8uHtCp-7NMYFh-8zPfCv-gY5wn3-eYkjMG-5Qqq7g-3tNApp-8F1AbR-d4NSwj-8vHAvg-8zNey2-8zNewg-8F4L71-8F1Adr-ddJCMk-br8pJm-cr2hP5-8WvZYE-9f9hTy-8F1Acv-bsxc3A-8JXqa1-57XARs-9RaKv-7NMZ9q-8zNexc-86KKr-9eECrp-6pQ9d3-5omb2c-5Efuj4-5ZA6Ck-7RrNkT-9eXNKf-9eEDrR-hg3tV/


7. 7 http://www.docstoc.com/docs/document-preview.aspx?doc_id=61883909


8. 8 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefighter#mediaviewer/File:FirePhotography.jpg


9. 9 http://www.cdc.gov/injury/pdfs/CDCFramingGuide-a.pdf


10. 10 http://valuesandframes.org


11. 11 http://updegrafflab.org/files/3113/3889/7925/URS-12.pdf


12. 12 http://boxesandarrows.com/ux-researcher-a-users-manual/


13. 13


14. 14 http://www.frameworksinstitute.org/assets/files/PDF/FramingPublicIssuesfinal.pdf


15. 15 https://www.surveymonkey.com


16. 16 http://www.surveygizmo.com


17. 17 http://www.usertesting.com


18. 18 http://alistapart.com/article/a-primer-on-a-b-testing/


19. 19 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10510970701849388#.VDmg4ktfJH0


20. 20 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2006.00290.x/abstract


21. 21 http://www.apa.org/research/action/motivate.aspx

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Framing Effective Messages To Motivate Your Users