Week 5 — Learning and Problem Solving
#universitydiaries
New things
New things I discovered this week and that I had never realized:
Continuing into my Psychology course and the chapters of Designing with the Mind in Mind — this week was all about how humans learn and solve problems as well as how we make decisions. The human brain can be divided into three parts, each responsible for different functions. And the human mind can be split into “two” minds. This week’s focus also covers ways of persuasion. Persuasive design is about how to influence user behavior with psychology and social theories.
What I learned
This is what I learned about this week:
Our brain broken down into 3 looks something like this:
- The new brain — This brain controls intentional, purposeful, conscious activity incl. planning.
- The middle brain — This brain controls emotions. It processes emotions and gut feelings.
- The reptilian brain (also known as the “old” brain) — This brain classifies everything into three categories: edible, dangerous, or sexy. It also regulate our body’s automatic functions i.e. digestion, breathing, and our reflexes.
When we perceive something e.g. an object or an event — all three “brains” react and feed our thoughts and behavior. Because they react at unsynchronized times, with the old and midbrains tending to react faster than the new brain. This is why human mind is not fully rational or conscious.
Learning from experience and doing learned actions is easy while problem solving and calculation prove to be more difficult for our brains. When we do something we know very well we say, “That’s so easy, I could do that with my eyes closed.” Doing something new and for the first time however is difficult as it requires full attention from the conscious mind.
Our “two” minds look something like this:
- Unconscious mind — Our unconscious mind operates in the old and midbrain. It is the most important decision maker for our perception and behavior. It makes decisions based on what we can perceive but not from other information. Perceptions are filtrered by our goals and does not reach our conscious mind if there is no match to our goals.
- Conscious mind — Our conscious mind takes over the thinking when the unconscious mind runs in the background and serves as a break for impulsive behavior.
From a user’s point of view, users want and to be able to focus their attention on their goals when experiencing an interactive systems. As designers it is then our mission to help the user achieve their goals seamlessly and make it easy for them.
Steve Krug says in Don’t make me think: A common sense approach to web usability,
“Interactive systems should minimize the amount of attention users must devote to operating them.”
Here are some implications for user interface design
- Prominently indicate system status and users’ progress toward their goal.
- Guide users toward their goals.
- Tell users explicitly and exactly what they need to know.
- Don’t make users diagnose system problems.
- Minimize the number and complexity of settings.
- Let people use perception rather than calculation.
- Design for familiarity.
- Let the computer do the math.
Curious about
I wanted to know more about … and I found it (in literature, on YouTube, on TED talk, etc.):
I was curious about the persuasive design and how designers have the power to drive desired user action.
I dug into these sources to learn more:
Influence At Work — Principles of Persuasion
Reciprocity Principle — Nielsen Norman Group
Social Proof Principle — Nielsen Norman Group
Scarcity Principle — Nielsen Norman Group
Usage in UX design
This is how I can use … in experience design:
Persuasive systems tell a story through use of memories and emotions. By persuasion, a person’s beliefs, attitudes, intentions, motivations or behaviours can be influenced. In UX design we can persuade a user to perform a certain action — most commonly to make a certain purchase.
Reciprocity
We respond to a positive action with another positive action e.g. we believe in give & take.
Consistency & Commitment
People like to be consistent with what they have previously done or signed up for.
Social Proof
People often refer to opinions and actions of others as a basis for their own.
Liking
People prefer to respond with positively mainly to those who they know or like.
Authority
People tend to follow those who they consider credible and knowledgeable.
Scarcity
People tend to perceive less available or scarce items as the ones that are more valuable.
To understand these principles better, I’ve tried to find an example to 3 of the Cialdini’s principles:
Example 1: Reciprocity
If you provide someone with something, they are more likely to return the favor in the future. Here is an example, from Uniqlo’s Dutch webstore.
The first thing users see when accessing Uniqlo Netherlands is a welcome pop-up that prompts them to sign up to the Uniqlo newsletter and promotional email and in turn receive €10 off their next order. If we apply Cialdini’s reciprocity principle, we could persuade more users to sign up by offering them a discount off their orders today. By giving something nice to the user in advance, we can more likely get them to “sign up now” — so both the user and Uniqlo is happy.
Example 2: Consistency & Commitment
It’s common to see people wanting to commit to a more active lifestyle especially during a new year. Not only do people want to commit to new personal goals but they would also prefer to be able to be consistent with what they have signed up for. A good example would be Apple’s Activity app which is well used on the Apple Watch.
I remember a friend tell me the other day that he has to “close his rings” for today still. I didn’t understand until he explained to me that he uses the activity app on Apple Watch to keep up with his fitness goals. Apple says this about their activity app, “Three rings: Move, Exercise, Stand. One goal: Close them every day. It’s such a simple and fun way to live a healthier day that you’ll want to do it all the time.” That’s the idea behind the Activity app on Apple Watch.”
Example 3: Social Proof
We tend to trust the people we know as well as their opinions and actions. In UX design, social proof can be found in the form of testimonials and reviews on e-commerce websites. Unsure about that incredible seaside vacation house, check the reviews first right?
