Neuro design is the use of insights from neuroscience and psychology in creating more effective designs.

‘processing fluency’. Information – such as an image or a task – that has good processing fluency is easy to look at or perform, and hence requires less energy.

show each page or design for five seconds – this is a manageable time for opening and closing a page under controlled timing.

(2016) he gives a good example of how context can prime us to be receptive to different types of advertising messages. He realized that two of our most powerful drives – to stay safe and to find a partner and procreate – can lead to two opposing behaviour strategies at any particular moment: the desire to be supported by fitting in with the crowd (

asking people what they think of something is not good enough. Much of the time people are not consciously aware of the mechanisms in their brain that have caused them to prefer one design over another.

As it is slower and takes mental energy and effort to employ, most people tend to shy away from using it where possible. System 2 is generally only triggered when we are unwilling or unable to use System 1.

Design also has a real impact on how we value things. Sites with a design optimized to what the brain likes will be more trusted and liked.

A/B testing can be a trial-and-error process. The missing puzzle piece is to understand the hidden mental processes in the mind that are driving the mouse clicks. This is what neuro design aims to provide.

Visceral beauty in a website can even trump actual usability: if a page has poor usability, users will still like it if they find it attractive.