Category: psychology

Think back to when you were last at a family gathering or an annual work celebration. You run the event back in your mind, and it almost seems like you’re watching a movie. People tend to think that memories like this are stored in their brains like digital recordings of specific facts or events. But…

In the previous section we covered System 1 and System 2 thinking. Since most people are in System 1 thinking most of the time, this means that most people are actually not paying that much attention to what is going on around them most of the time. When we design a product we are often…

Three opportunities to learn in 2024: Smashing is hosting our workshop in Behavioral Design in May:https://smashingconf.com/online-workshops/workshops/behavioral-design-susan-guthrie-weinschenk/ In-person Behavioral Design workshop, May 16th in Columbus Ohio: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/behavioral-design-workshop-tickets-769809008467?aff=oddtdtcreator In-person UX Leadership workshop, June 4th in Columbus Ohio: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ux-leadership-workshop-tickets-776626299167?aff=oddtdtcreator

Try for 30 seconds to multiply these two numbers in your head, not using pen and paper or a calculator: 17 x 24 It’s difficult to do in your head—most people I ask this of give up after a few seconds. Here’s another task. Look at the photo in Figure 10.1 and decide what it’s…

In-Person Workshops are back! We’re excited to announce that we are having an in-person Behavioral Design Workshop in Columbus Ohio open to the public on May 16, 2024. Learn how to apply recent research in brain and behavioral science to engage, encourage, and persuade the people that use your products and services. This will be…

It’s ironic. You spend hours, days, weeks, or even months working on the visual design of an infographic or a website. Yet research by Katharina Reinecke, Lane Harrison, and the team at the University of Michigan shows that people make lasting judgments about the design’s appeal in 500 ms (one-half of a second) or less.…

If you’ve ever worked with a coach to improve your ability to communicate persuasively, you probably learned how important it is to look directly at people when you’re talking to them. The rule of thumb is that looking at someone directly when you’re speaking makes you appear confident. It makes your message more persuasive. It…

Imagine you’re looking at a screen showing a picture of a person looking at a product, like the picture shown in Figure 7.1. FIGURE 7.1 An image of a person looking at a product. Will your gaze go to the same place as the gaze of the person in the picture? The answer is yes.…

You’re at home in front of your laptop browsing the Internet. If I ask you what you’re seeing in your central vision at any particular time, you could probably describe it fairly well. You might say, “I’m looking at text on a page. I’m reading the word ‘The’ and I see that the capital T…