Persuasive Design: Ten Years Later

Ten years ago, persuasive design was a relatively new frontier in the field of UX. In a 2015 Smashing article, I was among those who showed a way for practitioners to move from being primarily focused on improving usability and removing friction to also guide users toward a desired outcome. The premise was simple: by leveraging psychology, we could influence user behavior and drive outcomes like higher sign-ups, faster and richer onboarding, and stronger retention and engagement.
A decade later,