The Team W Blog https://www.blog.theteamw.com Behavioral Science, Brain Science, And Design, By Susan Weinschenk, Ph.D. Sat, 16 Sep 2017 19:03:05 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.2 https://www.blog.theteamw.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/cropped-favicon.012-32x32.png The Team W Blog https://www.blog.theteamw.com 32 32 whatmakesthemclick/Flnphttps://feedburner.google.com iPhone X? Yes or No? It Might Come Down To Which Part Of Your Brain Is Active. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/whatmakesthemclick/Flnp/~3/Q85Gjpkda0c/ https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/09/16/iphone-x-yes-or-no-it-might-come-down-to-which-part-of-your-brain-is-active/#respond Sat, 16 Sep 2017 19:03:05 +0000 https://www.blog.theteamw.com/?p=7105 Continue reading "iPhone X? Yes or No? It Might Come Down To Which Part Of Your Brain Is Active."

]]> Picture of iphone tenThis week Apple announced the iPhone X. Some of you have decided you are definitely NOT going to buy it, others have decided you definitely are, and others are on the fence. Whether you go for it or not at least partially depends on whether you are making a habit-based decision or a value based decision.

Two parts of the brain for decision-making –– It turns out that there are two different parts of the brain that make decisions. One area is in the basal ganglia, deep in the brain, and is based on habitual responses. The other is in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) which is behind your forehead. If you are making decisions in the OFC area those are value based decisions.

Habit decisions take over — Research by Christina Gremel shows that if the OFC is quiet, then habit-based decisions take over. If the OFC is busy, though, then the habit area is over-rided. What does this mean? If you are comparing features, thinking logically, reviewing data, then you can’t make a decision based purely on habit. But if you aren’t evaluating which product is best for you, then it is likely your habitual responses will kick in.

Always buy the latest iPhone? — So if you are someone who loves Apple products and you always buy the latest iPhone, then chances are you will buy the iPhone X.  The only thing that might stop you is if your Android-loving friend starts bombarding you with data comparing the new iPhone with his or her Android phone. As soon as you start doing a side-by-side comparison your OFC is engaged, making it impossible to make that quick habit-based decision.

So, which type of decision are you making?

Research citation: Christina M. Gremel, et, al, Endocannabinoid Modulation of Orbitostriatal Circuits Gates Habit Formation. Neuron May 2016.

]]> https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/09/16/iphone-x-yes-or-no-it-might-come-down-to-which-part-of-your-brain-is-active/feed/ 0 https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/09/16/iphone-x-yes-or-no-it-might-come-down-to-which-part-of-your-brain-is-active/ How To Get People To Commit To Your Product Or Service http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/whatmakesthemclick/Flnp/~3/hRfOH5QN9_Y/ https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/09/05/how-to-get-people-to-commit-to-your-product-or-service/#respond Tue, 05 Sep 2017 15:48:38 +0000 https://www.blog.theteamw.com/?p=7096 Continue reading "How To Get People To Commit To Your Product Or Service"

]]> Logo for HumanTech podcastHow do you get people to commit to your product or service? If you provide a free trial are they more likely to purchase? In this podcast episode we talk about the science of commitment, including what works and what doesn’t about free trials, why making people work harder increases commitment, and the effect that ratings and reviews have on the person leaving the review, not just the person reading the review.

 


Human Tech is a podcast at the intersection of humans, brain science, and technology. Your hosts Guthrie and Dr. Susan Weinschenk explore how behavioral and brain science affects our technologies and how technologies affect our brains.

You can subscribe to the HumanTech podcast through iTunes, Stitcher, or where ever you listen to podcasts.

]]> https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/09/05/how-to-get-people-to-commit-to-your-product-or-service/feed/ 0 https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/09/05/how-to-get-people-to-commit-to-your-product-or-service/ Heuristics: The Unsung Heroes Of How People Think http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/whatmakesthemclick/Flnp/~3/yIT7gCyCi4c/ https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/08/27/heuristics-the-unsung-heroes-of-how-people-think/#respond Sun, 27 Aug 2017 15:07:25 +0000 https://www.blog.theteamw.com/?p=7092 Continue reading "Heuristics: The Unsung Heroes Of How People Think"

]]> Logo for HumanTech podcastWe talk a lot about “cognitive biases” — the tendencies we have to think and act in ways that are not always logical, and not always accurate, but we forget that many of these brain shortcuts are very adaptive and very successful.

In this podcast episode we dive into the positive side — Heuristics. What they are, why we use them, and how they are so successful that we may even want to program them into machines.


Human Tech is a podcast at the intersection of humans, brain science, and technology. Your hosts Guthrie and Dr. Susan Weinschenk explore how behavioral and brain science affects our technologies and how technologies affect our brains.

You can subscribe to the HumanTech podcast through iTunes, Stitcher, or where ever you listen to podcasts.

]]> https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/08/27/heuristics-the-unsung-heroes-of-how-people-think/feed/ 0 https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/08/27/heuristics-the-unsung-heroes-of-how-people-think/ Mistakes People Make With Personas, And Why You Should Care http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/whatmakesthemclick/Flnp/~3/t9JwcjpByis/ https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/08/11/mistakes-people-make-with-personas-and-why-you-should-care/#respond Fri, 11 Aug 2017 14:31:45 +0000 https://www.blog.theteamw.com/?p=7083 Continue reading "Mistakes People Make With Personas, And Why You Should Care"

]]> Logo for HumanTech podcastCreating personas before you design a product seems quaint and old-fashioned these days. In this Human Tech podcast episode we get UX-nerdy and talk about why we still think personas can be useful, how they help you design, and the mistakes that people make when they create personas.


Human Tech is a podcast at the intersection of humans, brain science, and technology. Your hosts Guthrie and Dr. Susan Weinschenk explore how behavioral and brain science affects our technologies and how technologies affect our brains.

You can subscribe to the HumanTech podcast through iTunes, Stitcher, or where ever you listen to podcasts.

]]> https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/08/11/mistakes-people-make-with-personas-and-why-you-should-care/feed/ 0 https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/08/11/mistakes-people-make-with-personas-and-why-you-should-care/ A Conversation With Damien Borba from Adobe XD http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/whatmakesthemclick/Flnp/~3/7gRJjbXonTY/ https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/08/07/a-conversation-with-damien-borba-from-adobe-xd/#respond Mon, 07 Aug 2017 14:01:38 +0000 https://www.blog.theteamw.com/?p=7076 Continue reading "A Conversation With Damien Borba from Adobe XD"

]]> Logo for HumanTech podcastI think that AI and robots will be writing all the code and doing all the design of digital products before too long. But until then, we need good design tools. My favorite is Adobe XD. Have you tried it?

We met Demian Borba, Stategic Development Manager for the product when we were out in San Francisco earlier this year, and in this podcast episode we talk with Demian about Adobe XD, about design tools, and about his background.

Here are some links we mention in the podcast:

xd.adobe.com for information on the product in general

https://adobexd.uservoice.com/  if you want to leave a message or ask a question for the Adobe team

https://www.facebook.com/AdobeExperienceDesign for the Adobe XD facebook page and the place to go to watch Demian’s livestream events that happen every Wednesday at 10 Pacific time.


HumanTech is a podcast at the intersection of humans, brain science, and technology. Your hosts Guthrie and Dr. Susan Weinschenk explore how behavioral and brain science affects our technologies and how technologies affect our brains.

You can subscribe to the HumanTech podcast through iTunes, Stitcher, or where ever you listen to podcasts.

]]> https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/08/07/a-conversation-with-damien-borba-from-adobe-xd/feed/ 0 https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/08/07/a-conversation-with-damien-borba-from-adobe-xd/ The ROI of User Experience http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/whatmakesthemclick/Flnp/~3/3spqkt5hk0g/ https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/07/17/the-roi-of-user-experience/#comments Tue, 18 Jul 2017 00:06:20 +0000 https://www.blog.theteamw.com/?p=7072 Continue reading "The ROI of User Experience"

]]> Logo for HumanTech podcastHow do you know if the work you are doing to improve the user experience of your product is worth the time and the effort? One of our most popular webinar topics is how to calculate the return on investment (ROI) of User Experience. So we decided to talk about it on this latest episode of the Human Tech podcast


HumanTech is a podcast at the intersection of humans, brain science, and technology. Your hosts Guthrie and Dr. Susan Weinschenk explore how behavioral and brain science affects our technologies and how technologies affect our brains.

You can subscribe to the HumanTech podcast through iTunes, Stitcher, or where ever you listen to podcasts.

]]> https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/07/17/the-roi-of-user-experience/feed/ 1 https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/07/17/the-roi-of-user-experience/ The Visual Cortex And Design http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/whatmakesthemclick/Flnp/~3/7UIKwve24tk/ https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/07/06/the-visual-cortex-and-design/#respond Thu, 06 Jul 2017 12:32:56 +0000 https://www.blog.theteamw.com/?p=7067 Continue reading "The Visual Cortex And Design"

]]> Logo for HumanTech podcastDid you know that here is a part of the visual cortex that is sensitive just to a tilted line? Or that some people see millions more colors than the rest of us do? On this episode of Human Tech we talk about the strange and interesting science of vision and how it affects visual design.


HumanTech is a podcast at the intersection of humans, brain science, and technology. Your hosts Guthrie and Dr. Susan Weinschenk explore how behavioral and brain science affects our technologies and how technologies affect our brains.

You can subscribe to the HumanTech podcast through iTunes, Stitcher, or where ever you listen to podcasts.

]]> https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/07/06/the-visual-cortex-and-design/feed/ 0 https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/07/06/the-visual-cortex-and-design/ Updated User Testing Course http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/whatmakesthemclick/Flnp/~3/9gjMK16QR5A/ https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/06/17/updated-user-testing-course/#respond Sat, 17 Jun 2017 18:00:01 +0000 https://www.blog.theteamw.com/?p=7061 Continue reading "Updated User Testing Course"

]]> At The Team W we’ve updated our User Testing online video course. This latest version of the course has been filmed in our new studio. We’ve expanded and updated the content. The video clip below will give you an idea of what’s in the course.

You can get details on the course, preview some lessons, and/or register for the course at the User Testing online video course page.  The User Testing course is also included in our User Experience Certificate curriculum.

To see the catalog of all of our online video courses, go to the main course catalog page. 

]]> https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/06/17/updated-user-testing-course/feed/ 0 https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/06/17/updated-user-testing-course/ The Future Of Retail http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/whatmakesthemclick/Flnp/~3/Zk017iHdteg/ https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/06/14/the-future-of-retail/#respond Wed, 14 Jun 2017 14:56:43 +0000 https://www.blog.theteamw.com/?p=7058 Continue reading "The Future Of Retail"

]]> Logo for HumanTech podcastMany retail store chains are closing stores. Some say retail stores are a dying breed, and that shopping malls are also in trouble. What is the future of retail? Will technology save the day or is technology part of the reason retail is in trouble?


HumanTech is a podcast at the intersection of humans, brain science, and technology. Your hosts Guthrie and Dr. Susan Weinschenk explore how behavioral and brain science affects our technologies and how technologies affect our brains.

You can subscribe to the HumanTech podcast through iTunes, Stitcher, or where ever you listen to podcasts.

]]> https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/06/14/the-future-of-retail/feed/ 0 https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/06/14/the-future-of-retail/ How well do you know your EEG from your GSR? http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/whatmakesthemclick/Flnp/~3/LWBJDt5h_cI/ https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/06/02/how-well-do-you-know-your-eeg-from-your-gsr/#respond Sat, 03 Jun 2017 01:33:51 +0000 https://www.blog.theteamw.com/?p=7052 Continue reading "How well do you know your EEG from your GSR?"

]]> Logo for HumanTech podcastOur guest, Spencer Gerrol from Spark Neuro gets in the weeds with us in this episode and explains all things neuro-measurement.  How well does EEG measure interest and engagement? Can you tell what people are feeling? Which emotion? What does GSR (galvanic skin response) add? Anything? And facial recognition? Are these measurements better than using fMRI? Spencer has a unique ability to really go deep and yet make the information easy to understand. If you want to learn about the latest in neuro-measurements listen to this episode.


You can find out more about Spark Neuro and contact Spencer directly from the Spark Neuro website.

HumanTech is a podcast at the intersection of humans, brain science, and technology. Your hosts Guthrie and Dr. Susan Weinschenk explore how behavioral and brain science affects our technologies and how technologies affect our brains.

You can subscribe to the HumanTech podcast through iTunes, Stitcher, or where ever you listen to podcasts.

]]> https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/06/02/how-well-do-you-know-your-eeg-from-your-gsr/feed/ 0 https://www.blog.theteamw.com/2017/06/02/how-well-do-you-know-your-eeg-from-your-gsr/