Information Design Rule: Design for How People Think
While design can sometimes feel complicated because you’re always trying to adapt to the nuances of your particular audience’s personalities, values, motivators, personal tastes, and so forth, most human beings have a few similar qualities in regards to how they actually process information. This is good news for you! The reality is, while all people are certainly unique (and it’s important you pay attention to the uniqueness), there are several research-proven principles that suggest all humans have a few cognitive similarities—and this can significantly help you plan for designing information. In preparation for designing any communication, note the following rules about how people think:
People Satisfice.
Satisficing—a concept that blends the ideas of “satisfy” and “suffice”—suggests that most people, when looking at something complex, scan the information available to them and make decisions that seem satisfactory, given the situation. In other words, they don’t make the optimal decision after considering all possibilities. If, for example, you come to a website you’ve never seen before and you’re not entirely sure what to click on, you will most likely take a quick scan of the page, determine which term or link seems to make the most sense, and click on it. You will most likely not do a thorough examination of the page or necessarily make the optimal decision.
The term “satisfice” was coined by Herbert Simon in 1956 , where he noted that people make “approximate” decisions with limited information. With this in mind, the goal should be to design information that will lead people to “pursue a satisficing path,” as Simon suggests. That is, recognize that people will make choices about what they read, click on, or do based on how you organize, chunk, and highlight key points. Most people probably won’t read everything you write or make the optimal decision; rather, they will scan and choose to pay attention to what seems relevant by satisficing.
People Need Examples.
Have you ever read instructions that didn’t have pictures to show you what to do? (Ugh!) Pretty much all people will benefit from examples, whether they be pictures or written. Consider what you are trying to convey to your audience and think of examples to help them better understand what you’re conveying. Note that this book uses the right side of each spread to show examples. You’re much more likely to learn by seeing the examples than just reading about the rule—and your audience will be as well.
People Like Stories and Metaphors.
If you’re ever giving a presentation and you see that people are starting to nod off or that their not paying attention, there is one surefire way to make them lift their heads and look right at you: simply say, “let me tell you a story.” If you can put information into story format or if you can create metaphor that your audience can relate to, research suggests that they will pay attention longer, retain information better, and generally enjoy what you have to say more.
People Will Categorize Even if You Don’t Do It for Them.
When you provide a lot of information to someone, they will likely feel overwhelmed. There is a natural human tendency to try and organize information in a way that makes sense. The problem is, if you don’t provide the organization for your audience, they may organize it in a way that won’t help them understand it. Worse, they may even confuse concepts or ideas. As an information architect, you can really help people out if you categorize information.
