The Science of Communicating & Marketing Your Business

Did NextStage have any ideas?

A quick look gave me a few ideas and I was about to share one or two when the client said, "I'm on your site. What are those eyes for?"

Anyway, this fellow looked at the blinking eyes and asked, "Is that your 'sizzle'?"

"Sizzle?"

"Yeah, you know. You're pizazz. You're gotcha."

"I don't think so."

"Then what are they there for?"

I said, "Look at the eyes and tell me what you see."

And I'm not kidding. Without skipping a beat the fellow said, "Have you played the game?" and read the rest of that line.

"That's exactly what the eyes are for, to make visitors look where the eyes are looking. If the eyes are looking at an action eye-tem -- you know, that only works when you read it. For some people. It's the kind of thing I mentioned regarding my beloved wife and the "block past it" Myron Cohen joke in KBar's Findings: Political Correctness in the Guise of a Sandwich, Part 4 -- then people who see the eyes will also look there."

To which he said, "I don't believe it. How does it work?"

I suggested he get the Use of Eye Images as Navigation and Action Cues on WebSites paper. He replied, "No, I mean how does it work?"

"I'm not sure I understand the question."

He said, "I mean, how do the eyes know where they want me to look?"

"I'm sure I don't understand what you're asking me."

"How do the eyes know I'm going to look at that line? They could look down, couldn't they? They could look up. How come they look where there's something for me to read?"

I fell back to something WindKiller told me. "Sometimes, when you meet the demon, you just gotta feed it." I started to go into neurophysiology, the occipital cortex, how images are stored in the brain and where, what part of the brain compares one image to another, then into social and cultural evolution factors, the role the face plays in primate communication. I think I started going into the fact that Gaelic and Greek only have fewer letters in their alphabets than English, therefore there was that Gaelic-Greek connection to be considered. At some point I quoted Shakespeare. Or maybe it was Bugs Bunny.
Somewhere in there my dog started barking and I said, "Oh, that's the doorbell."

"Then I should let you go."

"No need. The dog can get it."

"Your dog can answer the door?"

"Oh, easily. He's very well trained. Where did I leave off?"

"No, no, please. That's good. I appreciate your time. I was just looking for some advice. I'll talk to some of the folks in here about your suggestions and see what they think."

"Good idea," I said enthusiastically. "Remember to blink and look where you want them to look so they'll know how to answer."

Okay, I admit it. I made some of this up and I hope you got a chuckle out of it. Some is based on fact and I'll let you figure out which parts. For my readers in the States, have a safe holiday. For my readers around the globe, I'll post something a little more serious tomorrow. Good night, all