100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People

257 Pages·2012·8.16 MB·English

100 THINGS
EVERY DESIGNER NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT PEOPLE
SUSAN WEINSCHENK, PH.D.
100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People
Susan Weinschenk, Ph.D.
New Riders
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New Riders is an imprint of Peachpit, a division of Pearson Education.
Copyright © 2011 by Susan M. Weinschenk, Ph.D.
Project Editor: Michael J. Nolan
Development Editor: Jeff Riley
Production Editor: Tracey Croom
Copyeditor: Gretchen Dykstra
Indexer: Joy Dean Lee
Proofreader: Jan Seymour
Cover Designer: Mimi Heft
Interior Designer and Compositor: Maureen Forys, Happenstance Type-O-Rama
Notice of Rights
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For
information on getting permission for reprints and excerpts, contact [email protected].
Notice of Liability
The information in this book is distributed on an “As Is” basis without warranty. While every precaution has been
taken in the preparation of the book, neither the author nor Peachpit shall have any liability to any person or entity
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ISBN 13: 978-0-321-76753-0
ISBN 10: 0-321-76753-5
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed and bound in the United States of America
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many thanks to my great editing team at Peachpit, especially the late night email exchanges
with Jeff Riley my development editor. Thanks to Michael Nolan (acquisitions editor) for
encouraging me in writing this one and sheparding it through the process. Thanks to Guthrie
Weinschenk for his photos, Maisie Weinschenk for her great ideas, and Peter Weinschenk
for his support and patience. And a thank you to all those who follow my blog, come to my
presentations, and in general listen to me talk about psychology. You give me valuable
ideas, opinions, and are the reason I keep searching out and writing about psychology and
design.
DEDICATION
Dedicated to the memory of Miles and Jeanette Schwartz.
Wish you were here to share the book with.
C O N T E N T S
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DESIGN vii
HOW PEOPLESEE
1 WHAT YOU SEE ISN’T WHAT YOUR BRAIN GETS 2
2 PERIPHERAL VISION IS USED MORE THAN CENTRAL VISION
TO GET THE GIST OF WHAT YOU SEE 5
3 PEOPLE IDENTIFY OBJECTS BY RECOGNIZING PATTERNS 7
4 THERE’S A SPECIALPART OF THE BRAIN JUST FOR RECOGNIZING FACES 9
5 PEOPLE IMAGINE OBJECTS TILTEDANDATA SLIGHT ANGLEABOVE 11
6 PEOPLE SCAN SCREENS BASED ON PAST EXPERIENCEAND 13
EXPECTATIONS
7 PEOPLE SEECUES THAT TELL THEM WHAT TO DO WITH AN OBJECT 15
8 PEOPLECAN MISS CHANGES IN THEIR VISUAL FIELDS 19
9 PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT THINGS THATARECLOSE TOGETHER 21
BELONG TOGETHER
10 REDAND BLUE TOGETHERARE HARD ON THEEYES 22
11 NINEPERCENT OF MENAND ONE-HALF PERCENT OF WOMEN 23
ARECOLOR-BLIND
12 THE MEANINGS OF COLORS VARY BY CULTURE 27
CONTENTS V
HOW PEOPLE READ
13 IT’S A MYTH THATCAPITAL LETTERS ARE INHERENTLY HARD TO READ 30
14 READING ANDCOMPREHENDING ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS 33
15 PATTERN RECOGNITION HELPSPEOPLE IDENTIFY LETTERS IN
DIFFERENT FONTS 37
16 FONT SIZE MATTERS 40
17 READING ACOMPUTER SCREEN IS HARDER THAN READING PAPER 42
18 PEOPLE READ FASTER WITH A LONGER LINE LENGTH, BUT THEY
PREFERA SHORTER LINE LENGTH 43
HOW PEOPLE REMEMBER
19 SHORT-TERM MEMORY IS LIMITED 46
20 PEOPLE REMEMBER ONLY FOUR ITEMS AT ONCE 48
21 PEOPLE HAVE TO USE INFORMATION TO MAKE IT STICK 51
22 IT’S EASIER TO RECOGNIZE INFORMATION THAN RECALL IT 53
23 MEMORY TAKESA LOT OF MENTAL RESOURCES 54
24 PEOPLE RECONSTRUCT MEMORIESEACH TIME THEY REMEMBER THEM 56
25 IT’S A GOOD THING THATPEOPLE FORGET 58
26 THE MOST VIVID MEMORIESARE WRONG 60
HOW PEOPLE THINK
27 PEOPLEPROCESS INFORMATION BETTER IN BITE-SIZEDCHUNKS 62
28 SOME TYPES OF MENTALPROCESSING ARE MORECHALLENGING 65
THAN OTHERS
29 MINDS WANDER 30 PERCENT OF THE TIME 68
VI CONTENTS
30 THE MORE UNCERTAIN PEOPLEARE, THE MORE THEYDEFEND 70
THEIR IDEAS
31 PEOPLECREATE MENTAL MODELS 72
32 PEOPLE INTERACT WITH CONCEPTUAL MODELS 74
33 PEOPLEPROCESS INFORMATION BEST IN STORY FORM 76
34 PEOPLE LEARN BEST FROM EXAMPLES 79
35 PEOPLEAREDRIVEN TO CREATECATEGORIES 82
36 TIME IS RELATIVE 84
37 THEREARE FOUR WAYS TO BECREATIVE 86
38 PEOPLECAN BE IN A FLOW STATE 91
39 CULTUREAFFECTS HOW PEOPLE THINK 93
HOW PEOPLE FOCUS THEIR ATTENTION
40 ATTENTION IS SELECTIVE 96
41 PEOPLE FILTER INFORMATION 98
42 WELL-PRACTICED SKILLS DON’T REQUIRECONSCIOUS ATTENTION 99
43 EXPECTATIONS OF FREQUENCYAFFECTATTENTION 101
44 SUSTAINEDATTENTION LASTS ABOUT TEN MINUTES 103
45 PEOPLEPAYATTENTION ONLY TO SALIENT CUES 104
46 PEOPLECAN’T ACTUALLY MULTITASK 105
47 DANGER, FOOD, SEX, MOVEMENT, FACES, AND STORIES GET THE 108
MOST ATTENTION
48 LOUD NOISES STARTLEAND GET ATTENTION 110
49 FOR PEOPLE TO PAYATTENTION TO SOMETHING, THEY MUST FIRST 112
PERCEIVE IT
CONTENTS VII
WHATMOTIVATES PEOPLE
50 PEOPLEARE MORE MOTIVATEDAS THEY GETCLOSER TO A GOAL 116
51 VARIABLE REWARDS AREPOWERFUL 118
52 DOPAMINE MAKES PEOPLEADDICTED TO SEEKING INFORMATION 121
53 UNPREDICTABILITY KEEPSPEOPLE SEARCHING 123
54 PEOPLEARE MORE MOTIVATED BY INTRINSIC REWARDS THAN 125
EXTRINSIC REWARDS
55 PEOPLEARE MOTIVATED BY PROGRESS, MASTERY, ANDCONTROL 127
56 PEOPLE’S ABILITY TO DELAY GRATIFICATION (OR NOT) STARTS YOUNG 131
57 PEOPLEARE INHERENTLY LAZY 132
58 PEOPLE WILL LOOK FOR SHORTCUTS ONLY IF THE 136
SHORTCUTS AREEASY
59 PEOPLEASSUME IT’S YOU, NOT THE SITUATION 137
60 FORMING A HABIT TAKESA LONG TIMEAND REQUIRES SMALL STEPS 139
61 PEOPLEARE MORE MOTIVATED TO COMPETE WHEN THEREARE 141
FEWERCOMPETITORS
62 PEOPLEARE MOTIVATED BY AUTONOMY 142
PEOPLE ARESOCIAL ANIMALS
63 THE “STRONG TIE” GROUP SIZE LIMIT IS 150 PEOPLE 144
64 PEOPLEARE HARD-WIRED FOR IMITATION ANDEMPATHY 147
65 DOING THINGS TOGETHER BONDSPEOPLE TOGETHER 149
66 PEOPLEEXPECT ONLINE INTERACTIONS TO FOLLOW SOCIAL RULES 151
VIII CONTENTS
67 PEOPLE LIE TO DIFFERING DEGREESDEPENDING ON THE MEDIA 154
68 SPEAKERS’ BRAINS AND LISTENERS’ BRAINS SYNC UP 156
DURING COMMUNICATION
69 THE BRAIN RESPONDS UNIQUELY TO PEOPLE YOU KNOW PERSONALLY 157
70 LAUGHTER BONDSPEOPLE TOGETHER 159
71 PEOPLECAN TELL WHENA SMILE IS REAL OR FAKE MORE 161
ACCURATELY WITH VIDEO
HOW PEOPLE FEEL
72 SEVEN BASICEMOTIONS ARE UNIVERSAL 164
73 EMOTIONS ARE TIED TO MUSCLE MOVEMENT AND VICE VERSA 166
74 ANECDOTES PERSUADEMORETHAN DATA 168
75 SMELLS EVOKEEMOTIONS AND MEMORIES 169
76 PEOPLEAREPROGRAMMED TO ENJOY SURPRISES 171
77 PEOPLEARE HAPPIER WHEN THEY’RE BUSY 173
78 PASTORAL SCENES MAKEPEOPLE HAPPY 175
79 PEOPLE USE LOOKAND FEELAS THEIR FIRST INDICATOR OF TRUST 177
80 LISTENING TO MUSIC RELEASESDOPAMINE IN THE BRAIN 179
81 THE MOREDIFFICULT SOMETHING IS TO ACHIEVE, THE MORE 180
PEOPLE LIKE IT
82 PEOPLE OVERESTIMATE REACTIONS TO FUTUREEVENTS 181
83 PEOPLE FEEL MOREPOSITIVE BEFOREANDAFTERANEVENT 182
THANDURING IT
84 PEOPLE WANT WHAT IS FAMILIAR WHEN THEY’RE SAD OR SCARED 184
CONTENTS IX