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WE DESIGN TO ELICIT RESPONSES from people. We want them to buy something, read more, or take action of some kind. Designing without understanding what makes people act the way they do is like exploring a new city without a map: results will be haphazard, confusing, and inefficient. This book combines real science and research with practical examples to deliver a guide every designer needs. With this book you’ll design more intuitive and engaging apps, software, websites and products that match the way people think, decide and behave.
INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOUR PRODUCTS.
Apply psychology and behavioral science to your designs.
Here are some of the questions this book will answer:
• What grabs and holds attention.
• What makes memories stick?
• What is more important, peripheral or central vision?
• Can you predict the types of errors people will make?
• What is the limit to someone’s social circle?
• What line length for text is best?
• Are some fonts better than others?
These are just a few of the questions that the book answers in its deep-dive exploration of what makes people tick.
How People See1. What You See Isn’t What Your Brain Gets2. Peripheral Vision Is Used More Than Central Vision to Get the Gist of What You See3. People Identify Objects by Recognizing Patterns4. There’s a Special Part of the Brain Just for Recognizing Faces5. There Is a Special Part of the Brain for Processing Simple Visual Features6. People Scan Screens Based on Past Experience and Expectations7. People See Cues That Tell Them What to Do with An Object8. People Can Miss Changes in Their Visual Fields9. People Believe That Things That Are Close Together Belong Together10. Red and Blue Together Are Hard on the Eyes11. Nine Percent of Men and One-Half Percent of Women Are Color-Blind12. The Meanings of Colors Vary by Culture How People Read
How People Read13. It’s a Myth That Uppercase Letters Are Inherently Hard to Read14. Reading and Comprehending Are Two Different Things15. Pattern Recognition Helps People Identify Letters in Different Fonts16. Font Size Matters17. Reading a Screen Is Harder Than Reading Paper18. People Read Faster with a Longer Line Length, But They Prefer a Shorter Line Length
How People Remember19. Short-Term Memory Is Limited20. People Remember Only Four Items at Once21. People Have to Use Information to Make It Stick22. It’s Easier to Recognize Information Than Recall It23. Memory Takes a Lot of Mental Resources24. People Reconstruct Memories Each Time They Remember Them25. It’s a Good Thing That People Forget26. The Most Vivid Memories Are Wrong
How People Think27. People Process Information Better in Bite-Sized Chunks28. Some Types of Mental Processing Are More Challenging Than Others29. Minds Wander 30 Percent of the Time30. The More Uncertain People Are, the More They Defend Their Ideas31. People Create Mental Models32. People Interact with Conceptual Models33. People Process Information Best in Story Form34. People Learn Best from Examples35. People Are Driven to Create Categories36. Time Is Relative37. People Screen Out Information That Doesn’t Fit Their Beliefs38. People Can Be in a Flow State39. Culture Affects How People Think
How People Focus Their Attention40. Attention Is Selective41. People Habituate Information42. Well-Practiced Skills Don’t Require Conscious Attention43. Expectations of Frequency Affect Attention44. Sustained Attention Lasts About Ten Minutes45. People Pay Attention Only to Salient Cues46. People Are Worse at Multitasking Than They Think47. Danger, Food, Sex, Movement, Faces, and Stories Get the Most Attention48. Loud Noises Startle and Get Attention49. For People to Pay Attention to Something, They Must First Perceive It
What Motivates People50. People Are More Motivated as They Get Closer to a Goal51. Variable Rewards Are Powerful52. Dopamine Stimulates the Seeking of Information53. Unpredictability Keeps People Searching54. People Are More Motivated by Intrinsic Rewards Than Extrinsic Rewards55. People Are Motivated by Progress, Mastery, and Control56. People Are Motivated by Social Norms57. People Are Inherently Lazy58. People Will Look for Shortcuts Only If the Shortcuts Are Easy59. People Assume It’s You, Not the Situation60. Forming or Changing a Habit Is Easier Than You Think61. People Are More Motivated to Compete When There Are Fewer Competitors62. People Are Motivated by Autonomy
People Are Social Animals63. The “Strong Tie” Group Size Limit Is 150 People64. People Are Hard Wired for Imitation and Empathy65. Doing Things Together Bonds People Together66. People Expect Online Interactions to Follow Social Rules67. People Lie to Differing Degrees Depending on the Medium68. Speakers’ Brains and Listeners’ Brains Sync Up During Communication69. The Brain Responds Uniquely to People You Know Personally70. Laughter Bonds People Together71. People Can Tell When a Smile Is Real or Fake More Accurately with Video
How People Feel72. Some Emotions May Be Universal73. Positive Feelings about a Group Can Lead to Groupthink74. Stories and Anecdotes Persuade More Than Data Alone75. If People Can’t Feel, Then They Can’t Decide76. People Are Programmed to Enjoy Surprises77. People Are Happier When They’re Busy78. Pastoral Scenes Make People Happy79. People Use "Look and Feel" as Their First Indicator of Trust80. Listening to Music Releases Dopamine in the Brain81. The More Difficult Something Is to Achieve, the More People Like It82. People Overestimate Reactions to Future Events83. People Feel More Positive Before and After an Event Than During It84. People Want What Is Familiar When They Are Sad or Scared
People Make Mistakes85. People Will Always Make Mistakes; There Is No Fail-Safe Product86. People Make Errors When They Are Under Stress87. Not All Mistakes Are Bad88. People Make Predictable Types of Errors89. People Use Different Error Strategies
How People Decide90. People Make Most Decisions Unconsciously91. The Unconscious Knows First92. People Want More Choices and Information Than They Can Process93. People Think Choice Equals Control94. People May Care About Time More Than They Care About Money95. Mood Influences the Decision- Making Process96. You Can Engineer Better Group Decisions97. People Make Habit-Based Decisions or Value-Based Decisions, but Not Both at the Same Time98. When People Are Uncertain, They Let Others Decide What to Do99. People Think Others Are More Easily Influenced Than They Are Themselves100. People Value a Product More Highly When It’s Physically in Front of Them