The Authority Principle

This is unfortunately abused to hell and back by unscrupulous marketers.

This is considered “UX”?

Although it’s young terminology, I had the impression there is an actual field, even a domain of knowledge being entertained. I have not been able to put a finger on it so far, but this here is just propaganda. Good stuff for launching your next ICO scam.

“(4) a McAfee logo in the footer, indicating that the site is secure.”

What’s interesting about this in terms of user interface is that as user interface evolves into natural language user interface a.k.a. things like Siri, is that I do wonder if voice first devices will eventually exude some authority over the user.

This isn't user experience. It is Marketing 101. What a user feels about content is more concerned about persuasion than it is interactive behavior with the software. Your software shouldn't get in the way between the user and conversion. That's UX. This fluff is icing on the cake--if done correctly--and not in an obnoxious in-your-face dancing bunny kind of way.