What is Compelling Web design?

Transcription

1 What is Compelling Web design?

2 A business website's job is to compel the audience to do things like: Buy a product or service Request a quote Subscribe to a newsletter or blog Provide contact/personal information Think of the brand when in need of its products or services So what makes a website's design compelling?

3 Our agenda PART I : 30 minutes The brain Your brand & your design strategy PART II : 30 minutes (link to ppt available on request) Compelling web design techniques

4 Let's talk about the human brain.

5 Our decisions are made first in our subconscious. Decisions are made in our subconscious 300 milliseconds before we become consciously aware of them. ¹ ¹ B. Libet (1985) Unconscious cerebral initiative and the role of conscious will in voluntary action, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 8 (4):

6 Our 5 senses and our emotions run parallel. Give someone warm coffee to hold and they will like you better. ¹ Bite into a pencil and things will seem funnier to you. ² ¹ L.E. Williams and J.A. Bargh (2002) Experiencing physical warmth promotes interpersonal warmth, Science, 322 (5901): ² F. Stack, L.L. Martin and S. Stepper (1988) Inhibiting and facilitating conditions of the human smile: A non-obtrusive test of the facial feedback hypothesis, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54 (5):

7 What does this mean for compelling website design? With attention spans and decision-making processes measured in seconds, website messaging has to speak to the subconscious immediately.

8 Messaging that resonates with the subconscious is built on brand development. 1. Who is your raving fan and what do they need / want? 2. What's the single most valuable thing you have that they want? 3. Why are they better off getting it from you than any competitor? = Brand Promise

9 Define your raving fan with a fictional buyer persona. Fears 1. Provide a general description of your raving fan and their key objective that you can satisfy? 2. What prevent them persona from achieving their objectives? 3. What questions do they ask while seeking a solution? 4. What personality traits & keywords can be ascribed to this persona? 5. What converts this persona to a sale? 6. What are the best channels for reaching them? 7. What is their typical day like?

10 What's the single greatest value you offer your raving fan? Your single greatest value proposition can be: tangible (e.g., the only product available with a particular helpful feature), intangible (e.g., the way your brand/product/service makes them feel). But it must be true and believable. Determining your value proposition can be the most difficult part of brand development. Nailing it down can take years of analysis.

11 What makes you different? ShamWow is the most absorbent material on the planet! Revlon founder Charles Revson used to say, In the factory, we make cosmetics; in the store, we sell hope. Hanes L'eggs was the first hosiery sold in grocery stores. Walmart sells bargains.

12 End of Part I

13 Getting your brand into your raving fan's brain with web design There are actually 3 brains to target: Primal Brain Pleasure vs Pain Sex Hunger Safety Emotional Brain Empathy Feelings Intuition Gut Feel Rational Brain Logical Analytical Deliberate

14 Targeting the Primal Brain Movement

15 Targeting the Primal Brain Simply using images of attractive people on your website or images of symmetrical faces can be enough to entice users.

16 Targeting the Primal Brain Who would you rather do business with? Vs. Visitors get a strong sense of how safe they are on your site from its overall aesthetic within 3 seconds.

17 Targeting the Primal Brain Facebook is proof of people s obsession with food. Food and meals easily convey entire lifestyles.

18 Targeting the Primal Brain How is going out of business good for business? Scarcity. It triggers a survival instinct hard-wired in us from back in our hunter-gatherer days.

19 Targeting the Primal Brain The brain responds to movement, which accounts for the increase in moving sliders in web design. Note: Research has shown users aged 18 to 31 prefer web pages with a single large image and relatively little text.¹ ¹ S. Djamasbia, M. Siegelb and T. Tullis (2010) Generation Y, web design, and eye tracking, International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 68:

20 Targeting the Primal Brain For our ancestors, making smart decisions quickly meant the difference between life and death. Our brains evolved to respond to contrast, and this quality still commands our attention today. This is why before-and-after pictures can be so compelling.

21 Targeting the Primal Brain Pain Pleasure Pain Pleasure We Clean Your House So You Don t Have To Pleasure and pain are two primal motivators. In design, we often leverage this by depicting a problem or need followed by a solution or benefit.

22 Targeting the Emotional Brain

23 Targeting the Emotional Brain Whether we realize it or not, we are hard-wired to empathize, as the survival of the tribe depended on it.¹ ¹ G. di Pellegrino, L. Fadiga, L. Fogassi, V. Gallese and G. Rizzolatti (1992) Understanding motor events: a neurophysiological study, Experimental Brain Research, 91 (1):

24 Targeting the Emotional Brain We all have mirror neurons that cause us to feel emotions we're confronted with. For example, pictures of happy people make the viewers happy.¹ ¹ G. di Pellegrino, L. Fadiga, L. Fogassi, V. Gallese and G. Rizzolatti (1992) Understanding motor events: a neurophysiological study, Experimental Brain Research, 91 (1):

25 Targeting the Emotional Brain Airbnb realizes that their design tells a story. Their service meets a deep human need for adventure and connection. Their web design communicates that need in a powerful way.¹ ¹

26 Targeting the Emotional Brain Improve Your Golf Swing Vs. Amazing Secret Discovered By One-Legged Golfer Adds 50 Yards To Your Drives, Eliminates Hooks and Slices And Can Slash Up To 10 Strokes From Your Game Almost Overnight! ¹ Like imagery, copy can effectively elicit compelling emotional responses. Drama can work, provided it's tangible, meaningful, and about the audience, not you. ¹

27 Targeting the Emotional Brain Tip: Cause disruption then reframe¹ Try now for only $4.99 a month Instead, try this. Try now for less than a cup of coffee! For only $4.99 a month, it s an amazing bargain. People get defensive when they know they're being pitched for a sale. The unexpected analogy in the beginning of the 2nd statement above briefly disarms the defenses. ¹ B.P. Davis and E.S. Knowles (1999). A disrupt-then-reframe technique of social influence, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76:

28 Targeting the Emotional Brain EyeQuant.com Tool for predicting eye location during the first 3 seconds of visiting your website.

29 Targeting the Emotional Brain Storytelling is one of the oldest and most powerful forms of communication. When a good story is told well, the minds of the storyteller and the listeners are in sync. This is called neural coupling. ¹ G. di Pellegrino, L. Fadiga, L. Fogassi, V. Gallese and G. Rizzolatti (1992) Understanding motor events: a neurophysiological study, Experimental Brain Research, 91 (1):

30 Targeting the Emotional Brain One minute of video is the storytelling equivalent to reading 1.8 million words. Dr. James McQuivey, Forrester Research Company

31 Targeting the Rational Brain Deliberate

32 Targeting the Rational Brain The rational brain wants proof of your credibility. Some products and services may require more proof than others. ADI was excellent, I highly recommend them for their great customer service. -James P.

33 0-15 Second Timeline Let s take one final look at the 00:00: First Contact 1. You Have My Attention 2. I Feel Safe 3. I know what you offer 4. I see the value 5. I trust you 00:00:15 6. It s clear what you want me to do next 1. You now have my attention Image and headline 2. I Feel Safe Overall aesthetics and layout 3. I know exactly what you offer Clear, simple identifying copy/images 4. I see the value Benefit-driven (not feature-driven) copy/images 5. I trust you Social proof, testimonials, awards, association memberships, etc. 6. It s clear what you want me to do next Call to action I m now COMPELLED to click on this action button.