One step in the Persuasion Architecture Uncovery process is to create a list of all the bits of information that someone may want to know (or come to find out) in the process of buying whatever it is that you are selling. Doing so defines the questions your selling process must answer, and the issues it must address.

Another thing this does is demonstrate how complex the actual buying process is, how much information is involved, how many different angles people will use to approach their purchase decision, and usually how woefully short and inadequate the typical website is in fully addressing the issues at hand. Suddenly it’s not so hard to see why so many people leave our sites after just a page or two – they’ve quickly come to find out that we probably aren’t going to answer their questions!

The list could be made simply enough, but Chapter 17 adds a twist – the Johari Window. This metaphorical tool is used to divide the available information based on who knows about it, and who doesn’t. The four segments (as used in PA) are:

* Open – Info known to you and your customers.
* Blind – Info known to your customers but not to you.
* Hidden – Info you know but your customers do not.
* Unknown – Info unknown to you or your customers.

It’s the hidden information the book warns us about the most. Marketers jump right back into the bottle when designing and writing marketing materials, including web sites, and pretend that their customers will live in their with them. In other words, it’s easier to believe you can actually hide something, so websites complete ignore ‘the tough questions’. But the hidden zone is getting smaller all the time; the world quickly discovers your secrets and shares them – and before you know it they’re at the top of the Google search results and cross-linked in reviews and discussions everywhere. In other words, at least in the commercial sphere, a secret is probably just a piece of information that you think other people don’t know.

Determining how to deal with issues and facts you’d rather not deal with isn’t easy or fun. (This could be another reason most web development projects skip this step.) But it is a reality that your prospects are likely going to have access to this information, so as the book suggests:
“..taking responsibility for presenting all information allows you to interact with your customers in a much larger open quadrant… you can provide the perspective that works in your favor and competes favorably with the angles other devise.”

When it comes time to define the content and organization of your website tackling these issues will require a lot of work. For now, Uncovery is helping get everything onto the table and giving us a much clearer view of the world in which our website and site visitors will exist.
In the next few chapters the book turns to another real-world consideration which is often ignored in terms of marketing and site design; our relationship to other businesses, products, economic issues, and other external influences.

:: This is part of a chapter-by-chapter review and commentary on Waiting for Your Cat to Bark, by Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg with Lisa Davis. Read the original review here.