Don’t Lie: This software is REALLY hard to use
November 19th, 2007 by Mitch Brisebois
Seth Godin had a great post a few days ago: while most marketers hide “the bad news” in the fine print, some actually put it out in the open. This sign warns of the environmental impact of scallop fishing… It’s right in the scallop bin of the store. You can’t deny that many things we do as a global society are wrong. From a marketing perspective, perhaps the honesty might lose you a few customers, but will eventually buy you loyalty from the customers that stay.I’ve always wondered why software designers don’t bother to explicitly set usability expectations with their users… Bring up the “I think You’re Way Out Of Your League… Accept? Deny?” dialog.
Popularity: 15%
I wish the advertising for air travel would do the same (stop lying), the latest is a ‘monthly’ cost being advertised in bold as $219, the fine print: a $1200 trip is actually $219 / month. Whatever that means. No doubt it’s a one way trip rate (so you probably have to double it, add taxes and airport fees).
The $219 is completely meaningless but it looks good when you put it next to a flight that actually costs much more.
That’s not a bad deal if you’re an escaped convict… $219 for a one way ticket to exile in Cuba!