Designing for Brains: the Psychology of User Experience w/Marissa Epstein

By now, you probably already know the importance of user research, and better understanding your users' needs and tasks. But it's also important to dig deeper, into the psychology of what motivates them,  and understand how humans really behave and think. Leave off those rose-colored glasses and see how users actually perceive an experience.  In reality, humans have limited memory and focus; we’re swayed by emotion more than we'd care to admit. Carefully considering every single thing in our lives would be far too overwhelming, so humans often revert to using their more primitive fight-or-flight "lizard brains" to make decisions quickly.

Marissa, a UX Designer at Lullabot, will discuss fundamental principles of cognitive and behavioral psychology, and how they apply to creating smooth user experiences. See the mistakes even intelligent people can make, and how you should handle them. Human-proof your designs by feeding the lizard brain, and help website visitors skip complicated thinking with simple interactions.

Bio: 

Marissa is a UX Designer for Lullabot (https://www.lullabot.com), where she wears many proverbial hats. She brings a passion for well-architected websites, responsive design, and psychology fundamentals to UX problems, and also loves obsessively tackling project management details. Her work has run the gamut, from packaging big brands like Wrigley and Kraft (Macaroni & Cheese), to creating thoughtful brands and experiences for startups. Marissa currently resides in Providence, RI with her boyfriend, Will Farrell (not that one).