Synopses & Reviews
Counterintuitive insights about building successful relationships-based on research into human-computer interaction. The driver was insistent: "A woman should not be giving directions." Despite the customer service rep's reassurance that the navigation system in his car wasn't actually a woman-just a computer with a female voice-the driver (and many others like him) refused to listen. There was only one person for BMW to call for help: Clifford Nass, one of the world's leading experts on how people interact with technology.
After two decades of studying problems like BMW's GPS system, Microsoft's Clippy (the most reviled animated character of all time), and online evaluations that lead people to lie to their laptops, Nass has developed a powerful theory: Our brains can't fundamentally distinguish between interacting with people and interacting with devices. We will "protect" a computer's feelings, feel flattered by a brown-nosing piece of software, and even do favors for technology that has been "nice" to us. All without even realizing it.
In his research at Stanford, Nass has leveraged our fundamentally social relationship with computers to develop and test a series of essential rules for effective human relationships. He has found that the most powerful strategies for working with people aren't really that complicated, and can be learned from watching what succeeds and fails in technology interfaces. In other words, if a computer can make friends, build teams, and calm powerful emotions, so can any of us.
Nass's studies reveal many surprising conclusions, such as:
Mixing criticism into praise-a popular tactic for managers-is a destructive method of evaluation.
Opposites don't attract-except when one gradually changes to become more like other.
Flattery works-even when the recipient knows it's fake.
Team-building exercises don't build teams-but the right T-shirt can
Misery loves company-but only if the company is miserable, too.
Nass's discoveries push the boundaries of both psychology and technology and provide nothing less than a new blueprint for successful human relationships.
Review
"If Dale Carnegie had been a Google engineer, this is how he would have written
How to Win Friends and Influence People. Cliff Nass shows us how much we can learn about people by understanding how people interact with computers."
-Chip Heath, coauthor of Switch and Made to Stick
"With the help of real experiments, rather than anecdotes or impressions, Clifford Nass uses people's interactions with computers as a window into social and professional life. The book is filled with insights about an increasingly important part of our lives."
-Steven Pinker, Harvard College Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of How the Mind Works and The Stuff of Thought
"With engaging illustrations and compelling evidence, Clifford Nass shows how interactions with our most advanced machines reveal our most primitive workings."
-Robert B. Cialdini, author of Influence: Science and Practice
"Nass and Yen serve up a wealth of practical, mind-expanding insights. This entertaining book will help you think afresh and gently lead you to social strategies that really work."
-Paul Saffo, Technology Forecaster, Discern Corporation
"The Man Who Lied to His Laptop is brilliantly accessible and will give you breakthrough insights about the single most important secret to success in business and life-building better relationships! This book is a must-read for every leader in these turbulent times."
-Mark Thompson, coauthor of Success Built to Last and Now, Build a Great Business!
Synopsis
In recent years, books like Predictably Irrational and Sway have revolutionized how we view human behavior. Now, Stanford professor Clifford Nass brings us a radically new perspective on why people often act in strange and irrational ways.
In The Man Who Lied to His Laptop, Nass explores human relationships through our interactions with technology. Over decades of research, Nass has tackled (and answered) unusual questions such as:
- Why do we find it necessary to be polite to computers?
- Why do many male drivers not trust GPS systems with female voices?
- Why is it possible for a computer to hurt our feelings?
But even more exciting are Nass's revelations about interactions among humans, all drawn from his research with computers. For instance, he has proven that:
- Mixing criticism and praise is an ineffective method of evaluation
- Flattery works even when the recipient knows it's fake
- Introverts and extroverts are best at selling to one of their own
Nass's insights provide a new blueprint for successful human relationships in business and life.
- Also available as an e-book
Synopsis
Counterintuitive insights about building successful relationships- based on research into human-computer interaction.
Books like Predictably Irrational and Sway have revolutionized how we view human behavior. Now, Stanford professor Clifford Nass has discovered a set of rules for effective human relationships, drawn from an unlikely source: his study of our interactions with computers.
Based on his decades of research, Nass demonstrates that-although we might deny it-we treat computers and other devices like people: we empathize with them, argue with them, form bonds with them. We even lie to them to protect their feelings.
This fundamental revelation has led to groundbreaking research on how people should behave with one another. Nass's research shows that:
- Mixing criticism and praise is a wildly ineffective method of evaluation
- Flattery works-even when the recipient knows it's fake
- Introverts and extroverts are each best at selling to one of their own
Nass's discoveries provide nothing less than a new blueprint for successful human relationships.
About the Author
Clifford Nass is the Thomas M. Storke Professor at Stanford University and director of the Communication between Humans and Interactive Media (CHIMe) Lab. He is a popular designer, consultant, and keynote speaker, and is widely quoted by the media on issues such as the impact of multitasking on young minds. He lives in Silicon Valley.