Shopping and Geekitude
Feb. 8th, 2006 07:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
library_mamaWhy We Buy by Paco Underhill I’d been hearing about this book for a long time, and finally got around to reading it. In a book meant to appeal both to store owners and shoppers, Underhill talks about the science behind setting up a store to sell more. My first cynical thought on picking up the book was that I could learn how to avoid the wily ways of the retailer, but Underhill makes a good case for his discipline helping both sides. Knowing how to place things so that people will find them and be comfortable browsing them makes things both more comfortable for the shopper and more profitable for the retailer. After all, whom does it help if you can't find what you came in for and walk away frustrated? Underhill has put serious research into his claims, trailing shoppers unawares and tracking all aspects of what and why people buy.
By the end of the first chapter, I had turned off my cynical shopper mode and started in on eager librarian mode. After all, I, too, am in the business of selling, just without the profit motive. We could learn a lot from his thoughts on how long signs can be depending on where they're placed and how to go about finding where best to put them. In fact, the whole science dovetails nicely with a side of my education that I loved but which I haven't been able to use much so far – the Human Computer Interaction part. OK, so there's not so much computer interaction here, but knowing how to watch people, then analyzing where they had difficulties and how to fix them – it transfers very nicely. Thinking of ways to apply this to my library fills me with geeky joy, even though I'm not high enough on the ladder to be likely to have much effect. Already my first attempt has been thwarted – right when you come in the door to my library, there is a TV monitor which displays fairly wordy ads for library activities. I suggested that, since Underhill says that people don't want to slow down to read a sign when they're first coming in the door, that we should turn it around to face the people waiting in line to check out there books. My boss thought it was a fabulous idea, and we turned it around right away. The receptionist, who came in two days later, thought the carpet cleaners had done it and had it turned back. Even after explaining the theory to her, she couldn't be talked out of her horror at people coming in the door being faced with the back of the monitor. So it goes.
By the end of the first chapter, I had turned off my cynical shopper mode and started in on eager librarian mode. After all, I, too, am in the business of selling, just without the profit motive. We could learn a lot from his thoughts on how long signs can be depending on where they're placed and how to go about finding where best to put them. In fact, the whole science dovetails nicely with a side of my education that I loved but which I haven't been able to use much so far – the Human Computer Interaction part. OK, so there's not so much computer interaction here, but knowing how to watch people, then analyzing where they had difficulties and how to fix them – it transfers very nicely. Thinking of ways to apply this to my library fills me with geeky joy, even though I'm not high enough on the ladder to be likely to have much effect. Already my first attempt has been thwarted – right when you come in the door to my library, there is a TV monitor which displays fairly wordy ads for library activities. I suggested that, since Underhill says that people don't want to slow down to read a sign when they're first coming in the door, that we should turn it around to face the people waiting in line to check out there books. My boss thought it was a fabulous idea, and we turned it around right away. The receptionist, who came in two days later, thought the carpet cleaners had done it and had it turned back. Even after explaining the theory to her, she couldn't be talked out of her horror at people coming in the door being faced with the back of the monitor. So it goes.
