I was watching Don Norman’s talk from UX Week ’08, and I’m not a member on Vimeo or anything, but the blurb at the comments section below was really nicely done. It really is encouraging me to be part of this, and this is an interesting example of “persuasive technology”.
For one, it’s almost static. There’s no “wizard of oz”-guy behind the system trying to get potential recruits to interact with the site.
Then, it’s partly contextual – because the video is a conference talk, it makes it even more appropriate to contribute to the conversation (I don’t know if they did that on purpose).
Thirdly, it’s placed appropriately in the comments section, although it doesn’t even say it’s a comments section. How did I know it? Well, I just assumed it. Most of us have gotten to a point of getting used to seeing comments as a trail below the main content. It just got picked up by Vimeo and used very subtly but very aptly.
Although it didn’t sign up immediately (because I wasn’t intending to participate in the conversation), I think someone who was interested in taking part in the conversation would, and that’s the point – making it easier for users to accomplish their goals – cordially, contextually, and effectively.