In this amazing BBC Horizon episode “The Secret You” from 2009, Professor Marcus du Sautoy takes a deeper look into these questions and tries to show us the evidence of consciousness and its effects on ‘being’.

True, there is no direct link between my blog, on how to gain practical insights into online optimization, and this BBC Documentary (although I will try to make this link later), but the Neuroscience element is simply intriguing and I am confident many of you will find it interesting, too.

The most interesting evidence shown, was from an experiment that proves that we subconsciously make decisions long before we are consciously aware of them. In this specific experiment up to 6 seconds!

The Edge of Awareness

The presenter, Professor Marcus de Sautoy, takes the viewers on a journey into real world experiments being conducted that help answer these questions.

Program Synopsis: “With the help of a hammer-wielding scientist, Professor Marcus du Sautoy goes in search of answers to one of science’s greatest mysteries: how do we know who we are? While the thoughts that make us feel as though we know ourselves are easy to experience, they are notoriously difficult to explain. So, in order to find out where they come from, Marcus subjects himself to a series of probing experiments.

He learns at what age our self-awareness emerges and whether other species share this trait. Next, he has his mind scrambled by a cutting-edge experiment in anesthesia. Having survived that ordeal, Marcus is given an out-of-body experience in a bid to locate his true self.

In Hollywood, he learns how celebrities are helping scientists understand the microscopic activities of our brain. Finally, he takes part in a mind-reading experiment that both helps explain and radically alters his understanding of who he is.“

6 Seconds

As I mentioned before, the experiment I find the most interesting is the last one. In the experiment, Professor du Sautoy is given 2 controllers, one in each hand and is asked to lie down in a MRI scanner. The controllers are to be clicked at random. Professor du Sautoy thereby has full control and can click a controller, left or right, at his own command.

While the Professor is being monitored in the MRI scanner, the scientists go on to show how they can predict which controller the Professor will be clicked… in most cases up to 6 seconds prior to the Professor consciously knowing himself.

So while the scanner tracks when the brain makes the decision, the controllers track the actual moment the conscious decision is made, in essence proving that our subconscious is actively making decisions to situations that are not directly obvious to us long before we are aware of the decision needing to made. [direct link to last experiment]

The eCommerce Connection

Let me try and make this post relevant to my blog… How does this effect online behavior. Is the decision to purchase/sign up being made prior to a visit, during or only prior to the actual conversion action itself? Do the findings from the BBC Horizon documentary debunk conversion optimization to some degree? Is conversion optimization only affecting those who have the intention to purchase/sign up? In another article on my blog, I displayed the insights gained from an exit survey using iPerception’s 4Q with which you can measure the leaks in conversion based on visitors who had the intention to convert.

So how do we go about influencing a visitors’ subconscious, to drive them towards converting? I believe that Robert Cialdini has pointed us in the right direction with his ‘Influence‘ approach, but we must all realize that even influence has its limits. So what will be the next step, beyond influence? How do we go on to predict? I will try to dive deeper into this question in a follow up blog post.

The Secret You

For now, and if you have time, watch the Horizon episode in question and be amazed. I have always been a big fan of BBC Horizon, but this episode is definitely one of my favorites.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Derek was the driving force behind CDBaby.com and HostBaby.com helping independent musicians sell there music via the internet. In 2008, Derek sold CDBaby and started a 2 year journey to everywhere. Living the nomadic lifestyle has been an interesting venture, one that cannot be valued in money.

In my interview with Derek I had the chance to ask some personal questions about how selling CDBaby.com felt, his experiences of being a nomad, his new and upcoming ventures and of course I asked him to tell us a little bit more about his TED presentation on ‘How to start a movement’ or as many of us know it ‘The Dancing Man’.

So, in the midst of planes flying over, trains thundering past and doors opening I made this interview. I hope you enjoy it as much as I had making it.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Watch Derek’s TED presentations:

• How to start a movement
• Weird or just different
• Keep your goals to yourself

In this interview the response and adoption of complete web monitoring is briefly discussed and Sean shares his thoughts on Web Analytics in general.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In the interview, Stéphane discusses his Online Analytics Maturity Model (OAMM) and his motivation to develop the tool. He also talks about tips on performing a good self assessment and what the effect is of managerial support on progression within the model.

Click here to view the embedded video.

• how it all started back in 2006
• his new upcoming job at WestJet
• his view on Multi Brand analytics
• the selling of his blog Web Analytics World
• his iPad application Josh & Emma
• his new project Local Deal Spot
• how Manoj balances his family life, work and projects on a day to day basis

Click here to view the embedded video.

• KISSMetrics.com
• the target market for KISSMetrics
• KISSInsights.com
• his view on Universal vs. Legacy tagging
• how he got started on CrazyEgg.com
• his business partner Hiten Shah
• his future plans

Click here to view the embedded video.

Related articles

• KISSmetrics Founder: “This Has Been My Biggest Challenge Yet” (businessinsider.com)

This short video was taken during a UX Bookclub meeting in Delft, the Netherlands on June 25th 2009. Since I work as a User Experience Designer in my daily life, I thought that it would be nice to meet some others by attending these meetings and giving us a chance to talk shop.

Our chapter was set up by Jeroen van Geel and Bette Burger. Jeroen and Bette who both work for Fabrique were so kind as to invite everyone over to their office. After a quick round of introduction from the co-ordinators and a cool beer to beat down the heat, the meeting got started. We took took tuns introducing ourselves. There was a nice mix of people attending ranging from interaction designers to industrial designers. As far as experience was concerned, it was nice to see the professionals mix with recent college/university graduates.

As discussions got livelier a decision was made to move the talks to the garden of the Frabrique office. A, still, warm summer’s evening was a great setting for the first UX Bookclub meeting in Delft and after having decided which book to focus on for our next meeting the meeting slowly came to an end. We drank another beer, talked off-topic and then we parted our ways. A big thank you to Fabrique‘s Jeroen and Bette for hosting the meeting and for supplying the beer…

If you are interested in joining a UX Bookclub in your area, take a look at the UX Bookclub website for more details or follow @uxbookclub on Twitter.

Music in the video “City Lights at Night” by Revolution Void used under Creative Commons license and downloaded from Jamendo.