book

Design for How People Think

by John Whalen

April 2019

Beginner

238 pages

5h 18m

English

O'Reilly Media, Inc.

Audiobook available

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Vision, Attention, and AutomaticityWayfindingLanguageMemoryDecision MakingEmotionThe Six MindsActivity
From Representations to ExperiencesUnconscious Behaviors: Caught You LookingVisual PopoutOops, You Missed That! Our Visual System Creates Clarity When There Is NoneCeci N’est Pas une Pipe: Learning What Someone Understands Something to Be, Not What Might Actually Be ThereFurther Reading
The Ant in the Desert: Computing Euclidean SpaceLocating Yourself in Physical and Virtual SpaceWhere Can I Go? How Will I Get There? Testing Interfaces to Reveal Metaphors for InteractionThinking to the Future: Is There a “Where” in a Voice Interface? Further Reading
Abstracting Away the DetailStereotypes of ServicesThe Value of Understanding Mental ModelsAcknowledging the Diversity of Types of Mental ModelsRiddle Answer Key! Further Reading
Wait, Didn’t We Just Cover This? The Language of the Mind“What We’ve Got Here Is Failure to Communicate”Revealing WordsI’m Listening
What Is My Problem (Definition)?How Might Problems Be Framed Differently? Finding the Yellow Brick Road to Problem ResolutionWhen You Get Stuck En Route: SubgoalsFurther Reading
Too Much Information Jamming Up My Brain! Too Much Information Driving Me Insane!Spock, I Am NotCompeting for Conscious AttentionGetting to Deep Desires, Goals, and FearsFurther Reading

Why Choose a Contextual Interview? Empathy Research: Understanding What the User Really NeedsRecommended Approach for Contextual Interviews and Their AnalysisCommon QuestionsFrom Data to InsightsExerciseConcrete RecommendationsFurther Reading
Where Are Their Eyes? Eye-Tracking Can Tell You Some Things, But Not EverythingQuick, Get a Heat Map… Go with the FlowReal-World ExamplesConcrete Recommendations
Recording InterviewsPrepping Raw Data: But, But, But…Reading Between the Lines: SophisticationReal-World ExamplesConcrete Recommendations
Where Do Users Think They Are? How Do They Think They Can Get from Place A to Place B? What Are Those Expectations Based On? Real-World ExamplesCase Study: Distracted Movie-WatchingConcrete Recommendations
Meanings in the MindPutting It All TogetherReal-World ExamplesWhat You Might DiscoverConcrete Recommendations
What Am I Doing? Goals and JourneysGimme Some of That! Just-in-Time NeedsChart Me a Course: The Decision-Making JourneyReal-World ExamplesConcrete Recommendations
Live a Little (Finding Reality, Essence)Analyzing Dreams (Goals, Life Stages, Fears)Getting the Zeitgeist (Person versus Persona-Specific)A Crime of Passion (In the Moment)Real-World ExamplesConcrete Recommendations
Affinities and Psychographic ProfilesLanguageEmotionWayfindingFinding the DimensionsChallenging Internal AssumptionsEnding an Outdated Practice: See/Feel/Say/DoConcrete Recommendations
Appeal: What People Say They WantEnhance: What People NeedAwaken: Realizing Loftier GoalsConcrete Recommendations
Divergent Thinking, Then Convergent ThinkingFirst Diamond: Discover and Define (“Designing the Right Thing”) Second Diamond: Develop and Deliver (“Designing Things Right”) Learning While Making: Design ThinkingDon’t Mind the Man Behind the Curtain: Prototype and TestTest with Competitors/ComparablesConcrete Recommendations Further Reading
Empathy on Multiple LevelsEvidence-Driven Decision MakingExperience Over TimeMultiple Vantage PointsConcrete Recommendations
Symbolic AI and the AI WinterArtificial Neural Networks and Statistical LearningI Didn’t Say That, Siri!The Six Minds and AII Get By with a Little Help from My (AI) FriendsConcrete Recommendations

Overview

User experience doesn’t happen on a screen; it happens in the mind, and the experience is multidimensional and multisensory. This practical book will help you uncover critical insights about how your customers think so you can create products or services with an exceptional experience.

Corporate leaders, marketers, product owners, and designers will learn how cognitive processes from different brain regions form what we perceive as a singular experience. Author John Whalen shows you how anyone on your team can conduct "contextual interviews" to unlock insights. You’ll then learn how to apply that knowledge to design brilliant experiences for your customers.

Learn about the "six minds" of user experience and how each contributes to the perception of a singular experience
Find out how your team—without any specialized training in psychology—can uncover critical insights about your customers’ conscious and unconscious processes
Learn how to immediately apply what you’ve learned to improve your products and services
Explore practical examples of how the Fortune 100 used this system to build highly successful experiences