This is tiny improvements. I'm Mike by Foco. I have really enjoyed learning about human cognition. The study of thinking and understanding. It's all about how we gather process, remember and use information in order to make sense of the world around us. As you might imagine, the way people do thinking is a broad topic, which research has only just begun to explore.
The fascinating thing to me about cognition is that many of the learnings we can derive from research on human thought, boil down to simple principles. For me, at least they always seem to make so much sense once I've heard them said out loud, but are often things that I've never really thought about before. We tend to think of our interpretation of the world, around us as something that works in a straightforward manner that the world appears to us in the same way as it truly is.
The truth is that our perception of the world is often distorted by our own biases and expectations. And can also be manipulated by the way we're presented with information. For example, research has shown that when people are asked to remember a list of items, they tend to remember items that appear at the beginning of the end of the list more easily than those in the middle. So if you need to remember something. It's best to put it at the beginning or the end of the list.
Similarly, the Von restaurant effect is a psychological phenomenon that describes how people tend to remember things that are different from the rest of the group. This week I've been captivated by Entasis. It's a technique used in architecture that uses optical illusions to make physical structures seem more visually balanced. It involves slightly bulging the sides of a column or other straight structures in order to create the illusion of a taller, straighter structure.
This technique is used to make structures, appeal more aesthetically pleasing. You've probably seen in taste it's used in buildings that use columns such as the Parthenon. This is an effect that I've seen used in visual design as well. Although I never had a name for it before. As it works out in tasteless is frequently used in the design of typefaces. Fond designers often use Intesa is to create a subtle optical illusion that makes the fun appear more balanced and symmetrical.
Sometimes a character will appear more visually balanced if it is just slightly taller than the others around it. Even though that feels like it shouldn't be the case. It's a subtle effect, but it can make a big difference in the way the text appears. From remembering lists to making typefaces look better, cognition plays an important role in product design. By understanding our cognitive biases and how we perceive the world.
Designers can create products that are more intuitive and aesthetically pleasing. Cognitive science is a powerful tool for product designers and it can be used in unexpected ways to create remarkable results. This has been tiny improvements. I'm mike by foco