Urban Design: Age-Linked Opinions
Seeing, hearing, and judging
Seeing, hearing, and judging
Sometimes visually minimalistic design is trendy other times maximalism prevails. Neuroscience makes a case for visual “medium-ism” (in technical terms: moderate visual complexity) and indicates the best ways to achieve it.
Visual complexity has a powerful effect on how humans process and use information from their physical world. Higher levels of visual complexity, visual disorder, and clutter degrade physical and psychological experiences. Designing in moderate visual complexity elevates human behavior, cognitive performance, and health.
What we see as we look around, inside an interior space and to the outdoors from that space, significantly influences the lives we live—and neuroscience research details how and why.
More nuanced insights
Change color, change complexity, change response
Visual complexity is an important driver of experience. Both too much and too little are bad for our mood and cognitive performance. Neuroscience research reveals how to manage visual complexity, disorder, and clutter.
Should you specify open spaces or areas with transparent walls? The answer to this question depends on your goals for a space.
Cacciamani’s doctoral work at the University of Arizona indicates that your eyes aren’t telling you the whole story of what’s in the world around you.
Wang and her colleagues have learned that people of all ages often overestimate the amount of information they can gather via vision.