Neuro-Design: Where brain science and product design meet
In his terrific blog NeuroMarketing, Roger Dooley talks about how an understanding of neuroscience can help marketers. Such knowledge can also help product and user interface designers as well.
One concept involves how mirrors can alter human behavior. By showing people what they look like will affect what they do. One study looked at kids’ behavior when they were offered candy. They were shown a big bowl and told to take just one - then left alone. 34% of the kids took more than one candy. When a mirror was placed behind the bowl so that kids saw their reflection - only 9% disobeyed the instructions.
So are we going to put mirrors in software? Not literally. But by evolving the level of personalization in software, the user is able to morph the product so that it better suits / reflects them. If this is a product used by a product that is used by business, make sure that their brand is easily integrated and respected. Provide tools that help create simple workflows that align with the business’ existing processes. Finally by better visualizing user actions and the outcomes of those actions, users gain a higher level of effectiveness and confidence in the product.
I’ve researched this hypothesis many times over the past few years. The more the user can “see themselves” in the product, the more loyal they will be to the solution. They will also generally rate perceived satisfaction and usability higher.
Although “mirror” features may seem intangible from a product feature perspective, don’t underestimate their power over consumer behavior.
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Filed under: Branding, Business, Software, Usability, User Experience, Web 3.0, Web Apps
