Research Conversations

Neuroscience research has a lot to say about ventilation and about how the water and air in a space should be managed to elevate users' in-place experiences, their thoughts and behaviors.

Responses to design are not always based on objective analyses.  Neuroscience research shows that interpretations of situations can be more important than any conditions that are actually present when our brains are sorting out the information they’re receiving, determining how we’ll think and behave.

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.

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.  

Ventilation and scents influence how we think and behave, our mental and physical health and wellbeing.  Their implications are significant and long-lasting, and found even when people are not consciously aware scents are present and when ventilation purrs along without a sound.

When we’re in a physical or virtual space that seems like it’s the wrong size, either too big or too small, we’re tense and that’s not good for our quality-of-life or mental/physical achievement.  Neuroscience research findings can help us right-size perceptions of the places where we find ourselves.  

What have neuroscientists learned about how humans experience surface colors that we all need to know?  How can color support achieving design objectives while boosting human physical and mental health, welfare, and cognitive performance?