Just a quick note to say that I’ve launched my new business today. I’ve left Human Factors International and have started a company dedicated to research and training in all things user experience. It’s called the User Experience Institute. I’ll be posting more information on it as well as getting a new website up and…
Category Archives: Uncategorized
100 Things You Should Know About People: #53 — People See Cues About How To Use An Object
You’ve probably had the experience of encountering a door handle that doesn’t work the way it should – for example, it has a handle that looks like you should pull, but in fact you need to push. In the “real” world, objects communicate to you about how you can, and should, interact with them. For…
New Book Due Out In April: 100 Things Every Designer Needs To Know About People: The Book and the Workshop
I’m happy to announce that I’m working on my next book with New Riders. It’s called 100 Things Every Designer Needs To Know About People (sound familiar?!). It will cover similar topics as my series of blog posts have been covering, but it will be in a lot more detail, with descriptions of the research,…
Thumbs Up: Website Uses Principles of Persuasion
The website www.contantcontact.com gets a thumbs up for using principles of Neuro Web Design effectively. Look at their home page (www.constantcontact.com). On the home page is a large photo of a woman who looks really happy. In fact, she looks positively joyful. Chapter 10 of Neuro Web Design describes the research on why pictures are…
5 Ways to Engage the Unconscious Mind at a Website
We like to think that we are rational, logical decision makers, but the reality is that most human decisions are made unconsciously. So if that is true, can a website engage the unconscious mind? Here are five of the more compelling ways to do that. Write back and tell me if you agree. 1. Use…
Top 10 Reasons Boomers Go Kicking and Screaming Into Blogging
I actually have two blogging coaches and one twitter coach. I’m trying to get the hang of this blog thing. I really am. It’s a slow road. I’m a baby boomer and I just don’t think we boomers are good at this blog/twitter/viral marketing thing. But I’m trying. One of my blogging coaches says that…
How Social Computing Elected the US President
The last chapter in my new book is called “The Next Big Thing”, and it’s all about the fact that being human means being social. It is built into our brains and evolution to live together with others, and to be very influenced by our “pack” or group. History shows us that whatever technology there…
A Plot By Apple to Convert PC Users?
I write my blog on a MacBook Pro. In fact, I do almost everything on my MacBook Pro. That may not seem unusual, but I can assure you it is. For as long as there were PCs, I was a PC person, not a Mac person. I’ve been using computers since before there were screens….
Undecided Voters? Not Really.
At dinner the other night my husband said, “How the heck could anyone be undecided two weeks before the election, when this campaign has been going on so long?” “It’s simple”, I responded. “They aren’t undecided at all.” “Explain that one”, was his reply. I’ve been recently reading research on unconscious mental processing (for the…
How Do People Decide – The Order Effect
I like to think that when I decide to buy something it’s because I’ve thought it through and it’s the best purchase. Logically and rationally. But I’ve read too much research on the unconscious and on decision making. So I know that people, including me, make decisions based on unconscious processing and that I don’t…