This document summarizes Joe Leech's talk on using psychology to create perfect designs. It discusses how designs should match people's mental models of how processes work by following logical step-by-step flows. It also explains how designs can evoke emotion through vivid language and imagery. While instinctual parts of the brain cannot be directly designed for, matching mental models and evoking emotion can lead to great designs without unnecessary trickery.
2. Hello, I’m @mrjoe
but you can call me
Joe.
I’ve been doing UX for 10 years
I work with people like Disney, Marriott & theTrainline.
I studied Neuroscience, which was really hard.MSc Human Communication
and computing, more on that later.
5. ‘perfect design’
I want to talk about the perfect
design.
Here is what you get if you type
perfect design into Google image
search.
Not what I’d call the perfect design
6. #p4d @mrjoe
Today I’m going to talk to you about
the brain.
Specifically three parts of it and how
if we talk to each we can create the
perfect design.
7. anybody recognise this city? I want to
tell you a story about Buenos Aires. I
have been twice.
9. The second time it happened. I also
took a photo. What I didn’t realise
until I was putting this talk together.
It’s same damn ATM!
I thought, how can I use psychology
to understand why this happened
and to stop it happening again.
17. Cruising.
So how does this relate to digital design I hear you ask. We don’t design
ATMs.
18. I worked for Saga holiday, vacations for the over 60s. In this case ocean
cruising.
19. This was the online flow SAGA had before we started.
20. We did some research and watched how these people would book a cruise
holiday. (and yes that is a wig, but not the actual people we spoke to)
21. We spent a few days listening to calls and customer service issues.
22. We spent time trying understand the order of steps, and information
needed at each each step to reach the Goal State
23. Remember that line at the top, how the website worked. Well after the
research we talked to SAGA about how it did work, and…
24. This was how people were using the current website. Jumping backwards
and forwards, and almost always having to pick up the phone to ask a
question, the result, very few online bookings. Web analytics might spot
this..
25. The next bit was the easy bit. We took what we new and showed each step
and the information required to move to the next step. Easy if you have
done the research, if you have the data. Web analytics will never give you
this.
31. This paper, from 2000. ATM experiment.
The same interaction, two scenarios. One plain green text on black screen.
One with a layer of design. The designed version was perceived as being
easier to use.
37. #p4d @mrjoe
Thinking
(cognition)
Emotion
This is the amygdala part of the Limbic System, it controls Emotion
It has deeper more profound effect on us. It’s connections and hormones
permeate throughout the brain, having an effect on everything we are
doing.
Emotion effects everything we do, both positive and negative.
38. 1. Match the mental
model
2. Evoke emotion
The perfect design
40. #p4d @mrjoe
Let me tell you a story,
recognise this movie?
I was good at
computers, kids at
school, the Johnson
Gang, asked me to help
them hack ATMs.
Needless to say, I was
useless at it.
48. #p4d @mrjoe
Thinking
(cognition)
Emotion
Instinct
Here’s the thing. Designing for the
instinctual part of the brain is almost
impossible. Adding pictures of faces,
genitals or anything to try to nudge or
persuade is not going to get you very
far.
49. 1. Match the mental model.
2. Evoke emotion.
The perfect design
3. Ummm...
Do steps one and two and you’ll have a great design. As for persuasive
design, nudging, gamification and other trickery, let me call bullshit on
that. If you have to use those theories to sell an average product. You’ll be
better improving the product that trying to trick.
You might get tiny incremental improvements but it won’t get you a perfect
design.