UX Australia 2015

To do a great job successful designers need to understand, engage with and influence others; including their clients, research participants, users, and their colleagues.

This starts with understanding what makes others tick. Enter the SCARF model…a simple Neuroscience-based framework that can help us to understand the social factors that make others feel relaxed and engaged rather than threatened and disengaged.

SCARF is an acronym for:

• Status – where we see ourselves relative to others
• Certainty – our ability to predict the future
• Autonomy – the freedom to choose how we approach particular situations
• Relatedness – how safe we feel with those around us.
• Fairness – whether we feel that we are being treated fairly (or not)

When these five factors are high or positive the brain’s reward centres are activated and people feel relaxed and engaged. For example, a perceived increase in fairness activates the same reward circuitry as receiving a cash reward, promoting a sense of wellbeing and engagement.

However, when these factors are low or negative people feel threatened and act accordingly. For example, a perceived threat to one’s status activates similar brain networks to a life threatening event, often promoting aggressive or avoidance type behaviours.

When we, as designers, understand these five factors– as well as how we can manipulate them – we can design and navigate conversations and interactions with people that feel good and inform our work in positive ways, avoiding instances where others feel threatened and act accordingly.

Consider attending this interactive talk if you are keen to find new ways to:

• Design positive interactions with others
• Avoid creating scenarios where others feel threatened
• Understand what’s happening when people are not engaged, and
• Re-engage those who are feeling threatened.

Extras

Using neuroscience to better understand, engage with and influence others (Keynote, with speaker notes)
Applying SCARF when designing (Google Doc)