Author Archives: mrjoe
Auction psychology
I’m working with a company who run auctions for travel upgrades so researching auction psychology and I thought I’d share some links. BBC Column: auction psychology – Mind Hacks Understanding the psychology behind auctions
Free online psychology courses
Some good options in there… Get free Psychology courses online from the world’s leading universities. Download these audio & video courses straight to your computer or mp3 player
7 Practical Facts about the Human Brain I wish Everyone Knew
Some great stuff in here. Source: 7 Practical Facts about the Human Brain I wish Everyone Knew – Leo Widrich
Research shows Flat Design is harder to use
I’ve been talking about the inherent problems with flat design for a few years now. (Affordance anyone?) We finally have some evidence that flat design is harder to use: The results show that a search in flat text mode (compared … Continue reading
Psychology and numbers
I get asked a lot about numbers and psychology. Here are some common questions and the answers I give. Q: Are odd or even numbers more attractive? Humans “prefer” round numbers. Evidence: Individuals tend to recall odd-ending prices less accurately … Continue reading
Psychological / Cognitive Biases in User Research
An old friend got in touch to ask about confirmation bias in user research and if I had any resources. I shared them with him and I’m sharing them with you. What is confirmation bias? Confirmation bias states that we … Continue reading
To our Brain Everything is a Location: A Unified Theory of Neuroscience
I graduated from my Neuroscience BSc back in 1998. The big takeaway from my degree was that as Francis Crick put it back in 1979 There is no theoretical framework for neuroscience No over-arching theory about we go from neurone … Continue reading
Sludge Detectives: The “Behavioural Economics Police” Take On Hotel Booking Sites
Love this. The term Sludge is a great one. Sludge highlights how companies and organizations can and are taking advantage of innate consumer traits and fallibilities, such as inertia and inattention, knowing that they can profit from consumers’ weaknesses and … Continue reading
Humans are Bad at Multitasking
Well of course we are. It’s never been about gender. People are just bad at multi-tasking but really at kidding ourselves we can multitask. Source: Research: Women and Men Are Equally Bad at Multitasking
The Amazing Psychology of Japanese Train Stations
There are some great behavioural nudges at Japanese (busiest in the world!) railway stations. Source: The Amazing Psychology of Japanese Train Stations – CityLab