Does your system respond immediately to user input? Or can you allow people to play with the information, turning a static message into an interactive one? Use numeric data to show people how they are doing, or translate data into analogous visual information. Feedback can be immediate, in the form of a quick challenge, or delivered at a later date as a monthly report.

Attractive things work better—or at least we perceive them as being easier to use. Have you evaluated how attractive your application (or site) is to your users? We are more forgiving of attractive designs and assume they are (or should be) easier to use. The curious part? A well-designed site is often a more usable site.

“Cost” may be monetary or an investment of time. Is your service priced accordingly? What items can you withhold until they are earned—perhaps a new feature or privileges? On pricing pages, offer a range of packages and highlight—or at least offer—a more expensive one than you think most customers would choose.

How are you presenting choices in your system? What are the available options? An implied story makes the most desirable choice more obvious, especially for new or difficult concepts. For example, framing donations as costing “less than a cup of coffee a day” encourages people to rationalize a monthly pledge.

Are there opportunities to use visuals to create an emotional response or to speed up response time? If you blur all text, does the imagery convey what you want to communicate? Asking “Can a 5-year old understand this?” is a great way to uncover where text can be replaced or reinforced with an image. Use images to elicit emotions, to make literal associations (an icon or avatar) or suggestive associations (see “Priming”).

Multiple-choice or one-click options are easy ways for people to interact with a site. If you’re considering asking people to list things from memory, try complementing (or replacing) empty form fields with defined, random or intelligent choices that people can click on or rate.