Neuro Web Design: What Makes Them Click? [Paperback]

Susan M. Weinschenk (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0321603605 | ISBN-13: 978-0321603609 | Publication Date: January 2, 2009 | Edition: 1

“While you’re reading Neuro Web Design, you’ll probably find yourself thinking ‘I already knew that…’ a lot. But when you’re finished, you’ll discover that your ability to create effective web sites has mysteriously improved. A brilliant idea for a book, and very nicely done.”
— Steve Krug, author of Don’t Make Me Think!
A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability

Why do people decide to buy a product online? Register at your Web site? Trust the information you provide? Neuro Web Design applies the research on motivation, decision making, and neuroscience to the design of Web sites. You will learn the unconscious reasons for people’s actions, how emotions affect decisions, and how to apply the principles of persuasion to design Web sites that encourage users to click.

Neuro Web Design employs “neuro-marketing” concepts, which are at the intersection of psychology and user experience. It’s scientific, yet you’ll find it accessible, easy to read, and easy to understand. By applying the concepts and examples in this book, you’ll be able to dramatically increase the effectiveness and conversion rates of your own Web site.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Susan Weinschenk has a Ph.D. in Psychology. For the past 30 years she has been an industry leader, consultant, and expert in usability, interface, and web design. Most recently she has been reviewing the research on the psychology of persuasion and non-conscious decision-making and has been a keynote speaker on this topic at conferences and for clients. Susan is a national and international speaker for user experience and usability conferences, most recently the keynote speaker for the Internet User Experience Conference in Ann Arbor MI, and an invited speaker for the Usability Professionals Association, just held in Baltimore MD. She has hundreds of clients, mainly in the US.

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: New Riders Press; 1 edition (January 2, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321603605
• ISBN-13: 978-0321603609
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #48,325 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A novel way to look at how a web site appeals to viewers, January 11, 2009

By 

Sathya Srinivasan (Edison, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Neuro Web Design: What Makes Them Click? (Paperback)

This is a good book for those who are working on creating web sites and redesigning old ones. The book talks about the various features often seen in websites and how it appeals to users' brain. Being a neurology buff, I have read the various studies mentioned in this book in other literature, but was pleasantly surprised to see it tied to web design.

The book mainly classifies brain in three parts - old (instinctively controlled), mid (emotionally controlled), and new (logically controlled) and explains which brain is triggered by a feature in a web site and eventually argues that you need features that appeal to all three regions to click.

The author has a very engaging way of presenting the content. I read through the entire book in around 2 hours.

I think this is a great book for designers to read and keep in mind while designing a website (kind of builds on top of the "Don't make me think!" book).

I reduced one star because of the amount of content. With such an engaging idea, I was hoping the author would also expand on other concepts of web design such as navigation, placement, layout, etc. Maybe a follow-up book would be a good idea!

All in all, a great book for a quick read (may on a plane or train) to put some new thoughts in your brain regarding web site design.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Hard to believe this book made it to print, January 11, 2011

By 

Chad Mazzola (MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Neuro Web Design: What Makes Them Click? (Paperback)

I usually don't review books on Amazon, but this book was such a disappointment that I feel like I have to warn other people against wasting their time and money.

There are two main components to this book: neuroscience and web design. The neuroscience part is interesting at times, but it's presented in such a simplistic way that it's hard to believe you are getting a reliable take on the material. But it's the web design part where this book really falls down. There are no case studies, no results of usability tests, hardly any data at all on actual users using actual websites. The advice is extremely simplistic and sometimes just plain dumb. The last chapter of the book is particularly awful. Here, folks, is the last sentence of the book: "I don't know what the next big thing online will be. I wish I did know. Then I could create it and make a lot of money and retire. But I do know that the next big thing will involve something social. Because it always does."

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars To the point, as expected., January 28, 2009

By 

Pen Name for me - See all my reviews

This review is from: Neuro Web Design: What Makes Them Click? (Paperback)

Surprisingly contemporary research on human behavior and motivations sighted throughout the book. Susan does a good job of bringing this new research onboard with a clear explanation of the relevance to her work. An easy enlightening and enjoyable read. It will be easy to incorporate some of her powerful ideas into most web pages. One almost feels guilty, of taking advantage of people, by exploiting what she reveals of human nature. Throughout she shows examples of websites that do it right. You can feel the ahhas coming over you as she walks you through their techniques. If you want to make them click, then this is a good place to start.