Rosenverse
Mixed Methods and Behavioural Science

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
Dave Hoffer
UX Job Search AMA #2 with Joanne Weaver and Dave Hoffer
2025 • Rosenfeld Community
Gabriela Barneva
Operationalizing Inclusive Design in Design Ops
2025 • DesignOps Summit 2025
Gold
Jack Moffett
UX Metrics That Matter and The Future of our Design at Scale Conference: A Community Conversation
2022 • Enterprise Community
Jon Fukuda
Theme One Intro
2022 • DesignOps Summit 2022
Gold
Bria Alexander
Theme 1 Intro
2024 • DesignOps Summit 2024
Gold
Sahibzada Mayed
The Politics of Radical Research: A Manifesto
2023 • Advancing Research 2023
Gold
Chris Govias
Perspectives on Civic Design
2021 • Civic Design Community
Scher Foord
Turn the Ship Around: How to Apply Design Thinking Across Your Organization
2021 • Design at Scale 2021
Gold
Steve Portigal
War Stories LIVE! Q&A-Discussion
2020 • Advancing Research 2020
Gold
Mike Davidson
Fireside Chat
2022 • Advancing Research 2022
Gold
Phil Gilbert
A Consistent Culture of Design
2015 • Enterprise UX 2015
Gold
Mansi Gupta
Drawing from Feminist Practice to Make Inclusive Design Operational
2022 • DesignOps Summit 2022
Gold
Meredith Black
Scaling Design Culture
2017 • DesignOps Summit 2017
Gold
Nova Wehman-Brown
We've Never Done This Before
2019 • Enterprise Experience 2019
Gold
Bria Alexander
Day 1 Panel: Up to the Minute: The latest in AI’s impact on UX
2025 • Designing with AI 2025
Gold
Kristen Guth, Ph.D.
Out of the FOG: A Non-traditional Research Approach to Alignment
2023 • Advancing Research 2023
Gold

More Videos

Marc Majers

"Building in interruptions exponentially increases the accuracy of the findings."

Marc Majers Tony Turner

Interrupted UX - Add A Dose of Reality To Usability Testing

March 11, 2022

Séamus Byrne

"Routine shapes how we collaborate—different teams have their own habits and we need to learn to dance together differently."

Séamus Byrne

Aligning Teams with Choreography

January 8, 2024

Sahibzada Mayed

"Decentralization of power is really important because power impacts how we practice care and collaborate."

Sahibzada Mayed Lauren Lin

Cultivating Design Ecologies of Care, Community, and Collaboration

October 4, 2023

Meaghan Waters

"Lift and shift equals timidity—it’s sticking to what you know rather than delivering real value."

Meaghan Waters Fotina Koutropoulous

Lack of Product Thinking will Doom Your Legacy Modernization

June 9, 2021

Andy Barraclough

"With proper prompting, AI can get you really close to a deliverable summary, much closer than expected."

Andy Barraclough Betsy Nelson

From Costly Complexity to Efficient Insights: Why UX Teams Are Switching To Voxpopme

September 23, 2024

Ned Dwyer

"It should be as easy to run research as brushing your teeth."

Ned Dwyer

Right horses for the right courses – how and when to democratize research

November 20, 2025

Maverick Chan

"We have to show clients the hundreds of sketches and iterations behind the AI-generated outputs."

Maverick Chan Claire Lin

From Doodle to Demo: AI as Our Storytelling Partner

October 23, 2025

Jim Kalbach

"Jobs to be done gives us a normalized, structured, and stable unit of analysis to then add emotion, brand, and price on top."

Jim Kalbach

Jobs To Be Done

February 25, 2021

Aditi Ruiz

"Product managers carry a lot of pressure and accountability without a lot of ability to force people to do anything."

Aditi Ruiz Christian Crumlish Farid Sabitov

A PM State of Mind: Empathy Mapping Your Product Manager, Pt. 1

December 6, 2022