Neuroscience research makes it clear that our cultures and the languages we speak have powerful effects on our design-based experiences. It also highlights how design can recognize, reflect, and respect user group cultures and languages so people feel more comfortable and achieve objectives they prize.
We all need to sleep; when we don’t sleep well bad things happen inside our heads. Design can make it easier for humans to drift gently off into healthy sleep—and to stay asleep—whether they’re at home, at a hotel, in a hospital bed, or trying to take a nap break at work.
Familiar, predictable design can be best, sometimes. Neuroscience research indicates when that’s the case and useful ways to design for expectations.
When we’re awed our minds do all sorts of great things and both designed and natural objects and spaces can awe humans. How can the forms of things and places generate awe? Why does awe matter? Applying neuroscience research to answer these questions enriches design practice.
Hodges, Estes, and Warren probed the implications of the words used in slogans and it’s likely that their findings are more broadly useful to designers. The team reports that via “a large correlational study with over 800 brand slogans, laboratory experiments, a biometric eye tracking experiment, and a field study, we unearth the word properties that make slogans effective. . . .
Dinse, Newen, and Tegenthoff have collected additional information indicating that our perceptions of textures are quite subjective. The investigators learned in a study using hypnosis that “If we sincerely believe that our index finger is five times bigger than it really is, our sense of touch improves. . . . When the participants signaled that they understood the opposite hypnotic suggestion that their index finger was five times smaller than it actually was, their sense of touch deteriorated accordingly.
Sun and colleagues link experiencing sunlight and taking more risks. More specifically they report that “We examine sunshine-induced mood and its impacts on investors' bidding decisions in the primary market where seasoned equities are offered. . . . . We find that investors exposed to stronger sunshine intensity or longer sunshine duration submit a higher bid price for SEOs [seasoned equity offerings], thus leading to lower offer discounts. We also find that mood misattribution and risk-taking act as channels to rationalize such a sunshine effect.
We take selfies for different reasons than we take photos in general. A Niese-lead team determined that “When photographing moments in their lives, people can use a first-person (capturing the scene as they saw it) or third-person (capturing the scene with themselves in it) perspective. Past research suggests third-person (vs. first-person) images better depict the meaning (vs. physical experience) of events. The current work suggests the use and impact of perspective in personal photography follow this representational function. Across six studies . . .
How does being in nature influence phone use? Minor and colleagues found that “Evidence links greenspace exposure with restorative benefits to cognition and well-being, yet nature contact is declining for younger demographics. . . . we analyzed ~2.5 million observations of logged smartphone use, texting, calling, and environmental exposures for 701 young adults over 2 years. Participants’ weekly smartphone screen-time was over double their green-time. The relationship between greenspace exposure and smartphone activity differed by exposure dose, type, and mobility state.
The patterns that we see around us have a major effect on what goes on in our heads. Pattern-related neuroscience research findings are useful wherever and whenever upholstery, wall coverings, flooring, etc. are being selected.