Body Language The Hidden Language

Body Language
The Hidden Language
Brad Nunnally
UX Solution Architect | Perﬁcient XD
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IA Summit 2014 #IAS14

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Gone Hollywood

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Glimpse The Soul

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State of Mind

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Albert Mehrabian found that the  
total impact of a message is about  
7 percent verbal (words only)
and 38 percent vocal 
(including tone, inﬂection, and other sounds) and  
55 percent nonverbal.

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A Reﬂection of Self

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Express
Feelings

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Decisions
SCIENCE shows that a
decision is made up to
7 seconds before the
decision has been
verbally communicated.

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Predictions

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Why Should Designers Care?

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Research Methods

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Observational
Data

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Seeing Signals
‣ Allows you to ask smarter
questions
‣ Aware of sensitive topics
‣ Predicting when you might
risk breaking trust

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Collaboration

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Present
Yourself

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Bad News…

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Disagreement…

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Agreement

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Voiceless
Participants

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What are the signs?

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Hands

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Open
‣ Acceptance of an idea or person
‣ Signal of openness and
trustworthiness
‣ Coupled with touching
‣ Fondness
‣ Familiarity
‣ Offering up something

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Closed
‣ Agressive
‣ Defensive
‣ Seeking Dominance or Control
‣ Seeking Resolution
‣ Uncomfortable
‣ Attempting to reassure oneself

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The Handshake
‣ Attempt to dominate
other person
‣ Signal submission to
other person
‣ Determining social status
or equality

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Arms

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Open
‣ Showing trust
‣ Presenting their “core”
‣ Feeling agreeable
‣ Making presences feel known
‣ Showing excitement

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Crossed
‣ Protecting their “core”
‣ Feels threatened
‣ Disagreeable
‣ Tense and closed off
‣ Feeling anxious or rejected

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Legs

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Crossed
‣ Feeling closed off
‣ Desires some privacy
‣ Get distance from others
‣ Showing a sense of insecurity
‣ Close minded

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Spread Out
‣ Conﬁdence in oneself
‣ Showing interest if directional
‣ Desire to move if directional
‣ Standing one’s ground

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Face

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Eyes
‣ Pupils signal honesty or deceit
‣ Direction indicates if they are
using memory or imagination
‣ Corners show authenticity
‣ Blinking shows level of
comfort

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Nose
‣ Flaring shows discomfort or
displeasure
‣ Coloring indicates emotional state
‣ Pinching or rubbing are signs of
doubt
‣ Or needing to sneeze
‣ Wrinkling conveys a sense of
distaste

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Mouth
‣ Pursed lips signal displeasure or
frustration
‣ Biting lips or cheeks is a sign of
anxious feelings
‣ Twitching indicates cynicism or
disbelief
‣ Smile, mixed bag of meanings
‣ Full, Half, Smirk, etc

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The
Body

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Cowboy
‣ Sizing up another person
‣ Generally an aggressive
stance
‣ Looking to establish their
presence

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Hands & Head
‣ Ready to “take the ﬂoor”
‣ Disengaged from current
conversation
‣ Broadcasting a sense of
conﬁdence

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Edge of Seat
‣ Passionate or excited about
what’s going on
‣ Ready to take action

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Cultural
Differences

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Universal Signs

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Different Meanings

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Physical
Expressions

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Game Time!

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Charades!!
‣ 1 Host
‣ 4 “Guests”
‣ Host needs to guess each
Guests general demeanor
‣ Guests can only communicate
non-verbally

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So What?

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Take Aways
‣ Reading body language is a
good soft skill for designers and
researchers
‣ Context MATTERS! Sometimes
someone might just be a little
cold
‣ Don’t focus on a single signal,
but focus on all of them

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How Do You
Practice
Reading?

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Watch
Yourself

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Watch Others

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Ask…
If Appropriate

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Mimicking

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Read Up

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Start Acting

Thank You!
Brad Nunnally
UX Solution Architect
Perﬁcient XD
Email - brad.nunnally@perﬁcient.com
Twitter - @bnunnally
Site - www.onestraythought.com
Designing The Conversation
Techniques for Successful Facilitation
!
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Body Language The Hidden Language

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