Rosenverse

Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.

Log in Create free account

100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.

Mixed Methods and Behavioural Science
Friday, May 26, 2023 • Rosenfeld Community
Share the love for this talk
Mixed Methods and Behavioural Science
Speakers: Michael Weir
Link:

Summary

In this insightful session, Mike, an expert in behavioral research with over eight years of experience and currently pursuing a PhD, explored the application of mixed methods research enhanced by behavioral science and biometric tools such as eye tracking, EEG, and facial expression analysis. He explained the necessity of combining qualitative insights with quantitative data to understand both what users do and why, especially beyond conscious awareness, addressing subconscious motivations that affect behavior. Mike detailed how attention, emotion, cognitive load, and motivation impact user experience on websites, highlighting metrics like fixation count, pupil dilation, prefrontal asymmetry, and valence in facial coding. He illustrated these concepts through real examples, such as analyzing hotel landing pages and checkout processes, emphasizing that simplified tasks increase adoption while motivating users improves engagement. Mike also discussed the ethical considerations of behavioral science research and the importance of pre-screening for neurodiversity and cultural differences. The session concluded with practical advice on designing, testing, and iterating experiments to maximize conversion and optimize user experience, underlining the power of triangulating data from various sources to build actionable hypotheses and validate them in real-world settings. The talk was moderated by Paula and featured engagement with attendees through detailed Q&A, including questions on cognitive load measurement and accommodating neurodiverse users.

Key Insights

  • Mixed methods research blending qualitative and quantitative data delivers deeper understanding of both observable behavior and underlying motivations.

  • Eye tracking combined with EEG and facial expression analysis can reveal subconscious attention, emotional valence, and motivation shifts during user interaction.

  • Increased pupil dilation indicates arousal or heightened attention, while prefrontal asymmetry changes correlate with approach or avoidance motivation.

  • Users often fixate first on salient elements, but repeated revisits to specific content indicate genuine interest and engagement.

  • Websites lacking sufficient visual content, like images on hotel landing pages, are perceived as less trustworthy and inviting.

  • Cognitive load increases when users struggle with tasks, detectable via metrics like blink rate reduction and EEG signals.

  • Simplifying tasks and motivating users are the two primary levers to improve behavior and conversion on digital platforms.

  • Behavioral science-based experiments can identify friction points contributing to drop-offs, enabling targeted design improvements.

  • Ethical considerations, including screening for neurodiversity and disability, are crucial when applying biometric behavioral research.

  • Triangulating lab-based biometric insights with real-world analytics and user feedback allows building testable, effective UX hypotheses.

Notable Quotes

"Marketing is psychology. There’s very little difference between the two because to sell, you need to know how people think and feel."

"People don’t remember what you said to them, but they remember how you made them feel."

"Eye tracking first fixation shows what’s salient, but repeated fixation and revisit counts tell you what truly interests users."

"The part of the brain we’re aware of is like the press release office; the real decisions happen behind closed doors."

"If a website is hard to use, motivation and approach drops, and users are less likely to engage or convert."

"Facial coding AI can’t tell if a smile is real or if someone is uncomfortable; human observation remains crucial."

"The simpler a behavior or task is, the more likely people are to adopt it on websites or in marketing."

"Using a mixture of behavioral science, analytics, and experiments helps prioritize changes that truly move KPIs."

"When people start saying a page looks busy or cluttered, it's a strong shorthand indicating cognitive overload."

"Once you find a behavioral experiment that works, it’s like playing Minesweeper—you place bets based on current knowledge to uncover more."

Ask the Rosenbot
Julie Gitlin
Design as an Agent of Digital Transformation at JPMC
2021 • Design at Scale 2021
Gold
Kavana Ramesh
Meaningful inclusion: Practicing accessibility research with confidence
2024 • DesignOps Summit 2024
Gold
Harry Max
Failure Friday #5: Lessons from a SaaS Design Failure
2025 • Rosenfeld Community
Dane DeSutter
What co-speech gestures reveal about users’ thinking during interviews
2023 • Rosenfeld Community
Sofia Quintero
Beyond Tools: The Messy Business of Implementing Research Repositories
2022 • Advancing Research 2022
Gold
Indra Klavins
A Design Ops Girl in a Dev Ops World
2019 • DesignOps Summit 2019
Gold
Iain McMaster
Design and Product: from Frenemy to Harmony
2023 • Design in Product 2023
Gold
Frances Yllana
DesignOps Exposed: What do our peers really think of us?
2025 • DesignOps Summit 2025
Gold
Sam Proulx
Accessibility: An Opportunity to Innovate
2022 • Civic Design 2022
Gold
Gina Mendolia
Coordinated collaboration: a Service Design & DesignOps love story
2025 • Advancing Service Design 2025
Conference
Ebru Namaldi
Designing the Designer’s Journey: Scaling Teams, Culture, and Growth Through DesignOps
2025 • DesignOps Summit 2025
Gold
Ruzanna Rozman
Getting in Flow with Your Team
2024 • DesignOps Summit 2020
Gold
Rachael Dietkus, LCSW
Trauma-Responsive Design: Reimagining the Future of Design Now
2021 • Civic Design 2021
Gold
Bria Alexander
Opening Remarks
2021 • DesignOps Summit 2021
Gold
Matteo Gratton
Can Data and Ethics Live Together?
2021 • DesignOps Summit 2021
Gold
Kate Koch
Flex Your Super Powers: When a Design Ops Team Scales to Power CX
2021 • DesignOps Summit 2021
Gold

More Videos

Gina Mendolia

"Coordinated collaboration is about designing our efforts with purpose to sustain peak performance conditions."

Gina Mendolia Jasmine Toy

Coordinated collaboration: a Service Design & DesignOps love story

November 19, 2025

Jennifer Bolduc

"Having honest conversations about where you want to grow can turn around a relationship or project."

Jennifer Bolduc Diane Gregorio Emily Day

What's involved with getting people back to work?: A panel discussion

July 1, 2021

Robin Beers

"We are the only thing we can control, how quickly we learn and how we adapt based on that learning."

Robin Beers

Beyond Insights: Researchers as Organizational Change Catalysts

March 25, 2024

Florence Okoye

"Design-based research methods rooted in African epistemologies are accessible and help include participants as co-creators."

Florence Okoye

AfroFuturism and UX Research

March 27, 2023

Anat Fintzi

"Empathy isn’t about absorbing everyone’s emotions; it’s about shifting from problem empathy to solution empathy."

Anat Fintzi Rachel Minnicks

Delivering at Scale: Making Traction with Resistant Partners

June 9, 2022

Anna Avrekh

"You have to prepare research to withstand scrutiny by anyone so your team can go forward confidently."

Anna Avrekh Dr. John Pagonis Klara Pelcl Sina Schreiber

Expert Panel: Leading in and with Research

March 10, 2022

Sam Proulx

"Everyone uses voice assistance now, whether controlling a smart home or sending a quick text; it gives independence to people with disabilities and convenience to all."

Sam Proulx

Accessibility: An Opportunity to Innovate

June 8, 2022

Michelle Morrison

"As soon as we started working from home, I sent an urgent email to say we have to change our strategy and experiment with new things."

Michelle Morrison

Culture Design

May 21, 2020

Dharani Perera

"Service design has a critical role in mapping human and agent interactions in an AI and automation world."

Dharani Perera

The mandala of service design: unlocking alignment and action through service design

November 20, 2025