Neuro Web Design: What Makes Them Click? (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: mid brain, old brain, social validation, Keen Venice, Fit Survey, New Brain

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

“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.

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: 8.8 x 6.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #46,531 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good book for web designers, May 7, 2009

By	Brian Martin (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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Personally, I'd rate this book around a 3 or 3.5 just because I've been doing my own research on persuasion for a year or so now. I've read a lot of books on techniques and little things that persuade people to take certain actions. This book is basically a summary on all these different kinds of techniques.

A lot of the things I already knew or had learned in another book, but it was nice to have the author pertain it to web design and design principles. For someone who is just a designer or web focused copy writer looking to dig into this persuasion world, this is a nice place to start. It gives a good overview of all the different aspects of persuasion design, like getting people to click a certain button or feel a certain way when designing a web page.

Some of these things designers may know instintivly, but it's good to have those instincts re-inforced by someone else. At only 16 bucks I would recommend a purchase unless you're really already deep into neuro-design or persuasion techniques.

If you're sort of new to the field like me, you'll enjoy the insight the author gives, though it is a quick read. I think there are only around 200 pages total, if that. She doesn't delve too deep into the topics either. I would have liked to have seen some more case studies perhaps and more detail on some of her research. Possible for a second book she could go more in depth, as it is now it's a great read, albeit a little short.

5 of 5 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 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.

4 of 4 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

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.