HeyHuman, a behavioral communications agency, uses neuroscience and biosensor data with iMotions to make content that’s easier to process on a cognitive level, and more engaging.
HeyHuman, a London-based behavioral communications agency, is redefining how brands connect with audiences. By combining neuroscience and biometric data through the iMotions platform, they create digital, social, and experiential content that is scientifically proven to be more engaging and easier for the human brain to process.
In a world where consumers are constantly bombarded by digital noise, traditional advertising metrics often fall short. It is incredibly difficult to measure how deeply someone is genuinely connecting with a piece of content. Aoife McGuinness, Neuroscience Consultant and head of HeyHuman’s in-house neuroscience research lab, flips the script by helping brands nurture a new kind of relationship with their customers—one focused entirely on behavior rather than self-reported words.
“I think what people say and what people do are often not the same, and I think we recognize the importance of tapping into this unconscious response to get real insight that’s going to deliver effective results,” she says.
Beyond the Survey: Real-Time, Millisecond Precision
HeyHuman’s approach completely bypasses the limitations of retrospective testing. Instead of asking people how they felt about an experience after the fact—which introduces memory bias and rationalization—the agency captures unfiltered human behavior in real-time.
Using the iMotions platform, the team integrates an Advanced Brain Monitoring (ABM) B-Alert EEG headset with advanced eye-tracking hardware. This allows them to monitor cognitive processes as they happen beneath the surface, delivering millisecond-accuracy precision.
By tracking these immediate physiological responses, HeyHuman can definitively measure:
- Memory Recall Potential: Understanding which creative elements leave a lasting neurological footprint.
- Cognitive Overload: Identifying exactly when content becomes too complex or exhausting to process.
- Engagement & Visual Attention: Pinpointing precisely what draws the eye and holds focus.
Validating Creative “Hunches”
This sophisticated setup isn’t just for academic validation; it is an agile tool used to guide strategic ideation, UX testing, and concept development.
When the creative team has a gut instinct or a “hunch” about an audience’s reaction, the neuro lab puts those hypotheses to the test. This allows the agency to confidently back up bold, strategic decisions with concrete biological data, ensuring that the final creative output is optimized for maximum impact.
To replicate this level of scientific rigor in your own brand campaigns, it is essential to establish robust testing methodologies. Discover how to plan and conduct successful neuromarketing studies in our exclusive interview with industry experts.
This in-depth conversation covers everything from participant recruitment to hardware synchronization. Read the full discussion to learn how to design and execute successful neuromarketing studies.
The iMotions Advantage: Agility and 24/7 Support
For a fast-paced commercial agency, data reliability and research speed are paramount. The ability to synchronize multiple biosensors into a single, cohesive workflow within iMotions drastically accelerates their timeline.
The opportunity to combine various sensors is really useful because it allows us to do our studies a lot quicker, a lot more effectively and with high quality results.
Aoife McGuinness, Neuroscience Consultant, HeyHuman
Beyond the software’s technical capability, iMotions provides a critical operational safety net: 24/7 customer support. Knowing that dedicated technical experts are always on hand to troubleshoot hardware synchronization or data pipelines gives the HeyHuman team the peace of mind required to run a high-volume, commercial research lab without missing a beat.
A Bright Future for Biometric Insights
As more industries wake up to the power of nonconscious measurement, McGuinness believes the future of biometric testing extends far beyond traditional marketing. The ability to capture true human response is rapidly expanding into commercial experience design, the arts, and diverse academic disciplines—proving that when you understand the mind, you can create truly unforgettable human experiences.
