This document summarizes a presentation on how social psychology can help improve user experience (UX) research. It discusses how social psychology research requires neutral environments, scripted interactions, clear hypotheses, and random assignment. Specific biases from social psychology like framing effects, anchoring biases, and the Dunning-Kruger effect can influence what users say in studies. The presentation provides recommendations for mitigating these biases to get more valuable insights from user research participants.

1. #UXPA2016
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What can social psychology
teach us about (better) UX
research?
Jessica Cameron, PhD

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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey

3. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/surveyprisonexp.org

4. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey
Social psychology is the scientific study
of how people's thoughts, feelings, and
behaviours are influenced by the actual,
imagined, or implied presence of others

5. #UXPA2016
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6. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey

7. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey

8. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey
“HELP SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT. You can show your respect for nature
and help save the environment by reusing your towels during your
stay.”
“JOIN YOUR FELLOW GUESTS IN HELPING TO SAVE THE
ENVIRONMENT. Almost 75% of guests who are asked to participate in
our new resource savings program do help by using their towels more
than once. You can join your fellow guests in this program to help save
the environment by reusing your towels during your stay.”
(Goldstein, Cialdini & Griskivecius, 2008)
26%

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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey
Social proof
Scarcity
Reciprocity
Social proof
Scarcity

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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey
How can social
psychology help us craft
more effective user
testing sessions?

11. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey
Social psychology research requires:
1. Neutral environments
2. Scripted interactions
3. Clear hypotheses
4. Random assignment to condition

12. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/surveyhuffingtonpost.com

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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey
The environment
Neutral yet comfortable

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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/surveystanforddaily.com, confirmit.com

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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey

16. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey
The interaction
Every word matters

17. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/surveysimplypsychology.org

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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey
1. Please continue.
2. The experiment requires you to continue.
3. It is absolutely essential that you continue.
4. You have no other choice but to continue.

19. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey

20. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey
The hypothesis
Cool effects are not enough

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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
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The participants
Representative versus random

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24. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey
duke.edu

25. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey

26. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/surveybluebottlecoffee.com

27. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey
1. Does your test lab make all of your participants
comfortable?
2. What purpose is your banter serving?
3. What purpose is your research serving?
4. Do your participants really represent your users?

28. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey
How can social
psychology help us
understand what users
have to say?

29. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey
How reliable are participants’ comments?
a – not very
b – not at all
c – it depends
d – all of the above

30. #UXPA2016
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There is a mismatch between what people
say and what they do

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bhs.co.uk

32. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
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“When asked directly about a possible effect of the
position of the article, virtually all subjects denied it,
usually with a worried glance at the interviewer
suggesting that they felt either that they had
misunderstood the question or were dealing with a
madman.”
(Nisbett & Wilson, 1977)

33. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey
How can you get more value out of what
participants say?
1. Reduce participants’ biases
2. Reduce your own biases

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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
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Ask questions that minimise bias
1. Framing effect
2. Anchoring and adjustment
3. Dunning-Kruger effect
4. Fundamental attribution error

35. #UXPA2016
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Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey
Framing effect
How you ask the question matters

36. #UXPA2016
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1. How easy did you find that website to use?
2. How satisfied are you with the amount of
information that you found?
3. How likely are you to recommend this website?
4. How amazing is this presentation?

37. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey
1. How easy or difficult did you find that website to
use?
2. How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the
amount of information that you found?
3. How likely or unlikely are you to recommend this
website?
4. How amazing is this presentation?

38. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey
Can we do better?

39. #UXPA2016
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1. Tell me about what you found easy. Now tell me
about what you found more difficult.
2. Did you feel like the information you read
answered your question?
3. What would you tell a friend about this website?

40. #UXPA2016
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Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey
Anchoring effect
Biases can multiply

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1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 5 x 6 x 7 x 8

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Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey
8 x 7 x 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1

43. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey
40,320

44. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey

45. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey
Dunning-Kruger effect
You don’t know what you don’t know

46. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
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47. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey

48. #UXPA2016
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(Kruger & Dunning, 1999)

49. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey
Fundamental attribution error
It might be your fault

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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey

51. #UXPA2016
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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey
1. Is it the person or the situation?
2. Are you the situation?

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Session Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey?sessionid=88
Conference Survey: http://www.uxpa2016.org/survey
Thank you!
Jessica Cameron
@jessscameron