JavaScript psychological test

Does the computer know what you think? This little test claims to test the thoughts that lurk below your consciousness.

Go on, try it before I go on, I don’t want to spoil the fun!

Why am I posting this here? It’s a fine example of usability-based humor.

A key pattern in humor is the disjunction between the expectation of the listener and what is actually said. This page exhibits just such a feature: while you are typing arbitrary text, it is transformed into something else.

The author of the page is riding on the expectation of the web user that a rectangular box with a bevel is a text input field. As Nielsen never tires of pointing out, user expectations are very stable in time and that’s why this page is actually funny.

Obviously, the resulting text must be funny in itself: there is here an extra layer of social commentary to make it funny for more people, and avoid the Non sequitur trap — pure usability humor would be obscure to most users.

(Cultural background note: new French president Nicolas Sarkozy is a polarizing figure, and has managed to find support beyond the traditional conservative constituencies to get elected. By showing the words “I like Sarkozy” when you type random text, the page’s author is playing on the fact that the rightist candidate drew sometimes unexpected support, and suggests you might subconsciously also support him.)