IDUX

In a new series of studies, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Carter and Gilovich (2010) explore six reasons why material purchases are less satisfying than experiential purchases, and what we can do about it.

Six Psychological Reasons Consumer Culture is Unsatisfying — PsyBlog.

This research suggests that thinking of material purchases in experiential terms helps banish dissatisfaction. The implications for designing online retail experiences may be to help customers see themselves using the product and focusing more on experiences with the product than on research and comparison of features and details vs. other similar products.

Brief article and checklist from LukeW for helping to determine when a social design and goal should be considered:

Luke W’s Social Engagement Checklist

The checklist is based on:

• Susan Weinschenk’s UX Lisbon presentation on Neuro Web Design.
• Stephen Anderson’s Serious Play presentation.
• IA Summit presentation on Online & Real Life Social Networks.
• Christian Crumlish’s presentation Designing the Social In.