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100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People

by Susan Weinschenk, Ph.D.
2 min read
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Two sample chapters from Susan Weinschenk’s new book.

This article introduces a sample chapter from the authors’ new book, 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People. You can download two sample chapters, entitled “How People See” and “What Motivates People,” and you can also enter to win one of five free copies in a UX Magazine giveaway.

Whether you’re designing a website, a medical device, or something somewhere in between, your audience is comprised of the people who will benefit from that design. And the totality of your audience’s experience is profoundly impacted by what you know—or don’t know—about them.

We design to elicit responses from people. We want them to buy something, read more, or take action of some kind. Designing without understanding what makes people act the way they do is like exploring a new city without a map: results will be haphazard, confusing, and inefficient. 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People combines real science and research with practical examples to deliver a guide every designer needs. With it you’ll be able to design more intuitive and engaging work for print, websites, applications, and products that matches the way people think, work, and play.

Learn to increase the effectiveness, conversion rates, and usability of your own design projects by finding the answers to questions such as:

    • What grabs and holds attention on a page or screen?
    • What makes memories stick?
    • What is more important, peripheral or central vision?
    • How can you predict the types of errors that people will make?
    • What is the limit to someone’s social circle?
    • How do you motivate people to continue on to (the next step?
    • What line length for text is best?
    • Are some fonts better than others?

These are just a few of the questions that the book answers in its deep-dive exploration of what makes people tick.

post authorSusan Weinschenk, Ph.D.

Susan Weinschenk, Ph.D., Susan Weinschenk first used a computer in the mid-1970’s, in graduate school. "I wrote and ran my first computer program, and the printer spit out a piece of paper that said 'JOB ABORTED.' Rather than being discouraged I was fascinated! What would happen when 'normal people,' not computer scientists, interacted with these things called computers?" She thus started a 30-year career in applying psychology to the design of technology. Susan has a Ph.D. in Psychology and is the author of How to Get People To Do Stuff, 100 Things Every Designer Needs To Know About People100 Things Every Presenter Needs to Know About People, and Neuro Web Design: What makes them click.  She is a presenter, speaker, and consulting, writes a popular popular blog at her website, and also writes the Brain Wise blog at Psychology Today.

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