design psychology

St. Jacques and Schacter provide additional evidence that memories can distort over time – a finding that may be useful to designers learning about user experiences before programming new spaces. In research focused on a visit to a museum, the researchers found that when study participants saw photos of exhibits, some of which they had visited and some of which they had not, they developed “memories” of having been at some of the photographed exhibits that had in fact not been visited which they shared in later conversations.  Memories are clearly malleable. 

Arup asks in the title to its new report on urban buildings in 2050, “Can you imagine the urban building of the future?”  It is clear that they can.  Arup’s thoughtful prognostications about urban structures are available free at the web address noted below.  The psychological implications of the new building forms are not addressed directly, but there clearly will be ramifications of being in “cities where everything can be manipulated in real time and where all components of the urban fabric are part of a single smart system and an internet of things.&nbsp

Hennings and her many collaborators investigated why people from various parts of the world purchase luxury goods.  The differences that the researchers found in reasons for purchase can inform the specification of design options, luxury and otherwise; they illustrate important cultural differences in motivations for selection. A related press release from the University of Delaware, neatly summarizes the researchers’ major findings: “’American consumers generally buy goods for self fulfillment, rather than to please others,’ [Jaehee Jung] said . . .

Khan, Misra, and Singh have shown that conservatives are more likely to purchase some products than others; designers can use their findings to identify options to present to clients.  First, what is a conservative?  Khan and her team define “conservatives” as people who generally vote for Republicans or actively practice a religion.  Khan, Misra, and Singh found that when making routine purchases (those that are perceived to involve minimal inherent risk) “more conservative ideology is associated with higher reli­ance on established national brands (as

Silvis reports information shared by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality linking particular healthcare design decisions to quality of care provided.  For example: “To reduce the need to sedate its young patients, the radiology department at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC introduced a program that uses various techniques to distract and engage patients, including theme-based room designs (such as a beach room, where walls feature a boardwalk and beach scenes, an oxygen tank looks like a scuba tank, and a linear accelerator is disguised as a sandca

Previous research has shown that the way that art is labeled influences how positively or negatively people respond to it (for example, see https://researchdesignconnections.com/pub/review-scientific-research-aes...).  Swami learned that “the provision of relevant, elaborate, and content-specific information results in better understanding of abstract artworks, which in turn is associated with better aesthetic appreciation.” An example of content-specific information was provided.  Text accompanying an image detailed that the viewers would:  “’be present

Krentz and Earl learned that infants and adults prefer the same sorts of abstract art – images with high visual contrast and moderate visual complexity.  They conclude that “although we cannot make the claim that these preferences are innate, we can suggest that their emergence in the first 6 months of life are both biologically based and driven by exposure to highly reliable sources of visual information from the environment.”

Intel Labs identifies trends related to the future world of work in a recent white paper.  They conclude that in 2025, “While it is likely that workers will increasingly be spread geographically and across time zones, co-location will still be required to fulfill the human need to establish connection with co-workers, build relationships and trust, and provide opportunities to grow as a team through social interaction.  Co-location is also important because it is known to spur knowledge spillover, serendipitous interactions and innovation.”

Smith summarizes recent research on the cognitive effects of having a cold, and her work indicates that taking steps to minimize their transmission, for example, through the tuning of HVAC systems and readily available hand sanitizing lotion dispensers, should be encouraged.  Smith quotes Andrew Smith, a psychology professor at Cardiff University: “’the sort of cognitive impairment you see from a common cold is in the same ballpark with the consumption of alcohol, working at night or working for prolonged hours.’”  Andrew Smith’s found that people with colds part

Miller-Cochran and Gierdowski have learned that flexible classroom design cost-effectively supports composition (writing) classes.  More specifically, when students are using their own laptop computers during class “in a flexible classroom, which included mobile furnishings, mobile whiteboards, and multiple LCD screens for projection . . . .