Section 23.4. The Graphic Identity

23.4. The Graphic Identity

If you're building software that you want people to use, then find yourself an artist.

In 2000, when we initially released Bugnosis, concerns about web privacy were getting a lot of press attention, web bugs were just starting to become recognized as a part of the cookie equation, and P3P was not yet available. Although its simplicity certainly had some appeal, Bugnosis attracted far more users than we anticipatedmore than 100,000 download attempts in its first five months. The Privacy Foundation, which funded the development of Bugnosis, had experience with public relations. An integral part of the publicity effort was the incorporation of an attractive graphic identity , both at the Bugnosis web site and in the software itself.

According to a study performed by the Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab, consumers asked to assess a web site's credibility cited the "design look" of the site more often than any other factor (such as information structure or accuracy) in reaching their conclusions.^[10] This study did investigate web sites, not software. However, some of the consumer comments can easily be considered relevant to software as wellvaluing a "positive, professional look" over "put together in 5 minutes" and "cheesy graphics." And in any case, Bugnosis is distributed from a web site, which certainly gives users an impression of the credibility of the organization that produced it.

^[10] B. J. Fogg, Cathy Soohoo, David Danielson, Leslie Marable, Julianne Stanford, and Ellen R. Tauber, "How Do People Evaluate a Web Site's Credibility? Results from a Large Study," Consumer Web Watch (Oct. 29, 2002); http://www.consumerwebwatch.org/.

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Note: Designing an appealing look takes very different skills from designing privacy software. Don't make the mistake of adding features and gadgets at the expense of visual coherence.

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