"Tell us about yourself..."
I hate filling out online "tell us about yourself" questionnaires. I daresay most people hate filling out online questionnaires. When I want to sign up for something, I want it to without having to answer a thirteen page survey asking everything about me, including the name of my first pet.
Nielsen's article, "Newsletter Usability: Can a Professional Publisher do Better?" speaks to that very fact; people do not like taking the time to answer a questionnaire and if they have to, they do not like divulging personal information about themselves. In his article, Nielsen rates the email newsletter of the Washington Post, commenting on its "nosy questions requesting personal information." Such surveys can be a deterrent to potential visitors and a huge usability problem.
I always assumed that such nosy, demographical questions were asked due to direct marketing and targeted advertising schemes. What I found particularly interesting is that such questions are not even accurate determinants of demograhic behavior. Nielsen recommends, "you should target computational advertising based on each user's explicit behavior, which defines a demographic of one; this is much more valuable than stereotyping people as members of broad groups." Such intrusive and time consuming surveys are not even necessary, according to Nielsen, since they assume and lump certain types of people into irrelevant categories.
I wonder if and how campaigns are implementing any sort of advertising or correspondence tailored more specifically to voters, based off of their explicit behavior, rather then demographic information?
Nielsen's article, "Newsletter Usability: Can a Professional Publisher do Better?" speaks to that very fact; people do not like taking the time to answer a questionnaire and if they have to, they do not like divulging personal information about themselves. In his article, Nielsen rates the email newsletter of the Washington Post, commenting on its "nosy questions requesting personal information." Such surveys can be a deterrent to potential visitors and a huge usability problem.
I always assumed that such nosy, demographical questions were asked due to direct marketing and targeted advertising schemes. What I found particularly interesting is that such questions are not even accurate determinants of demograhic behavior. Nielsen recommends, "you should target computational advertising based on each user's explicit behavior, which defines a demographic of one; this is much more valuable than stereotyping people as members of broad groups." Such intrusive and time consuming surveys are not even necessary, according to Nielsen, since they assume and lump certain types of people into irrelevant categories.
I wonder if and how campaigns are implementing any sort of advertising or correspondence tailored more specifically to voters, based off of their explicit behavior, rather then demographic information?
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