Comments on: Ecommerce optimisation tips part 6: Using psychology to design for persuasion

By: Maicon

Maicon — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:13:55 +0000

Extensive and well explained. A valuable article. Thanks for the serie.

By: Sam Menter

Sam Menter — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:10:18 +0000

I think this is an area where Apple succeed. Instead of offering you hundreds of choices a la Amazon / eBuyer etc, they only actively push their own branded stuff in their store (even though they do sell other brands). You know that if you buy the Apple version of whatever, you will pay a premium, but it will be good and you won’t have to spend hours / days deliberating over which one to buy!

PS The nightclub brain – I guess you’ve been hanging out in the wrong type of clubs!

By: James Chudley

James Chudley — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:29:29 +0000

Hey Chris,

Glad you found this useful.

The term “new” refers capabilities that the brain has developed in modern times to cope with modern life as opposed to the old or reptilian brain which equipped us with the skills for basic survival.

The new brain is concerned with conscious, logical and rational thinking. I guess the point is that we make design decisions based on logical, rational and conscious thought. We discuss these decisions with our peers and they apply their own “new brain” processing to agree or to disagree.

This can miss the point somewhat as a design may make rational sense but users may perceive it in a totally different way or in ways that reflect decisions made within their unsconcious.

This reminds me of numerous usability sessions where the client can’t understand why the user missed something that was so obvious to us and when questioned they couldn’t explain their actions. Maybe we were too caught up in designing for “rational” use and not “actual” use.

To bring us back to this point of academic vs practical I think I wont be asking myself “Which part of the brain am I designing for” when i’m creating my next set of wireframes. However, an understanding of this academic background can help to explain why people do what they do and this is wonderful knowledge to have in your back pocket.

By: Chris Drinkut

Chris Drinkut — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:43:32 +0000

Great stuff. Bridging the divide among the practical and theoretical will always be an issue. But, you’ve given me something to think about here, a number of things really.

You mentioned the old, mid, and new brains, but only covered mid and old. Is the new concerned with breaking new ground, and able to be engaged through webpages and content that takes the viewer/consumer to a new place within their mind?

By: James Chudley

James Chudley — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 20:20:29 +0000

Thats really good practical advice, thanks Susan.

I think its vital that these principles are both usable and accessible in their own right, so as designers we can make the best use of them within the constraints of billable work.

I always used to be introduced to clients as the guy who looked after the users but in fact I was the one responsible for making their pages sell as well. So yes, persuasion is another thing to consider but I think that its something we’ve been doing for a while without giving it a label.

I’m glad to have done some of your principles justice and look forward to reading your book in more detail, possibly at the next Bristol UX book club.

By: Susan Weinschenk

Susan Weinschenk — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 19:27:06 +0000

It sometimes seems like a lot to think about; we have to design for ease of use and now we have to design for persuasion too! One of the things I tell clients to focus on, is look at one particular web page and ask yourself, “What is the action I want them most to take on THIS page, and then make sure you’ve made that action easy to find and take (usability part) and also that you’ve used at least one of the principles in the book to make the user want to take the action (persuasive part), on an unconscious as well as conscious level.

Thanks, James, for the insightful comments to some of the principles in my book.