Maddenware
time to read 2 min | 301 words

This is actually not about a particular software, but my way of recording a thought (which will probably come back to haunt me).

Shareware authors usually put some sort of a nag screen to convince you to pay for the software. It got to the point that you have screen where you have to wait, or click some predefined (and changing) sequence of buttons, or type something, etc... All those methods are in your face, and while they are annoying, you usually deal with them on conscious level.

What I'm thinking about is something more subtle. Put a nag screen, but make it so that it's just a tad closer to close. I'm not talking about anything that the user will see, or even suspect. Just ignore the first click on the close button. If you do it only... say half the time, that should be annoying on a subconscious  level. You can "enhance" the idea by similar tricks, such as waiting a barely perceptible amount of time 0.3 second should do it, before closing the nag screen.

The idea is to make the user hate the nag screen, but do it in a way that s/he wouldn't be aware of that. A nag screen that behave just strangely enough to throw off you expectations should be maddening, but you usually won't be able to put your finger down and say: "That is what is causing the problem."  Of course, there is always the chance that the user will start to actively dislike your software and won't pay anyway, but that is the risk in the business.

Joel wrote about the little things that drives us mad several times. It's a very clear line from thus tiny frustrations to raving-mad-howl-at-the-moon users. As a word of advice, don't do it.

I name thou: Maddenware, in hope of never meeting.

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