Switched has a new home! Huffpost Tech.

Click here to visit the new home of Switched!

Hot on HuffPost Tech:

See More Stories
AOL Tech

Users More Likely to Share Secrets With Un-Official Looking Sites

by Terrence O'Brien on September 6, 2010 at 08:00 AM

Web DesignIt might seem a little counterintuitive, but according to a study from Carnegie Mellon University, users are actually more likely to answer questions on a website honestly if the site seems less reputable in appearance. Researchers created three different sites that asked a series of highly personal questions. One site used muted colors, an official-looking seal and a professionally appropriate font, a second appeared somewhat less serious, while a third used bright colors, a cartoon devil and "less professional fonts" (perhaps comic sans?). Oddly participants were far more likely to admit to engaging in socially and legally questionable acts with the third site instead of the first. Researchers rationalized this by saying the volunteers may have been afraid the more official-looking site would store and track their answers.

Less surprising was that through careful phrasing, researchers could lure participants into divulging more information. Some would avoid answering a direct question such as, "Have you ever gone on a date just to make someone jealous?" Volunteers were more likely to respond if the question were phrased: "If you have ever gone on a date just to make someone jealous, how unethical do you think it was?" This is great news for marketers, bad news for privacy advocates. We're just going to stop answering questions on websites all together. Seems like the safest choice.

Tags: Carnegie Mellon University, CarnegieMellonUniversity, design, privacy, study, top, web, web design, WebDesign

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular