Neuro Design
How can a webpage design be changed to improve the first impression that users have of it? Which of several print ad designs is most likely to create the desired emotional reaction? How can a print ad design be optimized to make sure that it gets seen? Which package design will most likely get noticed in-store? If you are looking for answers to these questions, then Neuro Design is a book you should read.
In February 2017, Darren Bridger - one of the pioneers of the Consumer Neuroscience industry – published his latest book. In an entertaining style, he presents concepts and insights from neuroscience research which, as the title suggests, enable us to engage the viewer of the final creative material. Whether it involves the design of a website, a web application, a work presentation, video material or even a social media post, the content can be optimized using neuromarketing design theories and research insights in order to leverage the elements that make them effective.
As the author defi nes it, Neuro Design represents the use of insights from neuroscience and psychology to create more eff ective designs, off ering a way to help build our understanding of why people react in the way they do to different content. Research from fi elds such as behavioral economics, evolutionary psychology, neuroscience and
even art have accelerated the foundation of the young emerging field of neuro-aesthetics, that specifically studies the factors that infl uence whether our brains respond positively to images.
Each chapter of Neuro Design ends with a summary of take-away concepts and rich literature references that only deepens our curiosity to read more. I was especially captivated by the nine principles of Ramachandran, a neuroscientist and an important contributor to the development of neuro-aesthetics. Darren Bridger covers a wide variety of design insights on how we process visual stimuli that are applicable without any eff ort and that are useful for creating memorable content.
The concepts presented on visual perception are the bases of neuromarketing and therefore I highly recommend this book to everyone interested in consumer neuroscience. Another section I really enjoyed was a chapter that presents insights on designing presentation slides, where the author details research evidence of how people perceive each element of the content of such materials, highlighting the neuro design principles we can use to minimize the eff ort needed by viewers to follow our message and making it easier for them to connect points across slides. This book should be on the shelves of anyone who creates any kind of content, as the insights presented will surely become an everyday part of the designer’s toolkit in the near future.