Susan Weinschenk, PhD. 100 things every designer needs to know about people. 2011

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HOW PEOPLE SEE

Research on color and moods

Research shows that colors aect mood. The restaurant and hospitality industry has

studied this a lot. For example, in the U.S. orange makes people agitated, so they won’t

stay long (useful in fast food restaurants). Browns and blues are soothing, so people will

stay (useful in bars). However, in order for a color to aect mood, the person has to be

sitting in a room surrounded by that color. The eect does not seem to work if he or she

is simply looking at a computer screen that has a particular color on it.

Takeaways

Choose your colors carefully, taking into account the meaning that the colors may

invoke.

Pick a few major cultures or countries that you will be reaching with your design and

check them on the cultural color chart from InformationIsBeautiful.net to be sure you’re

avoiding unintended color associations for that culture.

Research shows that colors a



ect mood. The restaurant and hospitality industry has

studied this a lot. For example, in the U.

. oran

e makes people a

itated, so the

won’t

stay long

(

useful in fast food restaurants

)

. Browns and blues are soothing, so people will

stay (useful in bars). However, in order for a color to aect mood, the person has to be

sitting in a room surrounded by that color. The e



ect does not seem to work i

he or she

s simpl

lookin

at a computer screen that has a particular color on it.

With adult literacy rates now over 80 percent worldwide, reading

is a primary form of communication for most people. But how do

we read? And what should designers know about reading?

HOW

PEOPLE

READ

HOW PEOPLE READ

13 IT’S A MYTH THAT CAPITAL LETTERS

ARE INHERENTLY HARD TO READ

You’ve probably heard that words in uppercase letters are harder to read than those in

mixed case or lowercase. You’ve probably even heard some kind of percentage cited,

such as “between 14 and 20 percent harder.” The story goes that we read by recogniz-

ing the shapes of words and groups of words. Words in mixed case or lowercase letters

have unique shapes. Words in all capital letters have the same shape—a rectangle of a

certain size—so, in theory, they’re harder to distinguish (Figure13.1).

FIGURE13.1 The word shape theory

This explanation sounds plausible, but it’s not really accurate. There’s no research

showing that the shapes of words help us read more accurately or more quickly. A

psycholinguist named James Cattell came up with that idea in 1886. There was some

evidence for it then, but more recent work by Kenneth Paap (1984) and Keith Rayner

(1998) has revealed that what we’re actually doing when we read is recognizing and

anticipating letters. And then, based on the letters, we recognize the word. Let’s look

more closely at how we read.

READING ISN’T AS FLUID AS IT SEEMS

When we read, we have the impression that our eyes are moving smoothly across the

page, but that’s not what’s actually happening. Our eyes move in quick, sharp jumps, with

short periods of stillness in between. The jumps are called saccades (about seven to nine

letters at a time) and the moments of stillness are called ﬁxations (about 250milliseconds

long). During the saccades, we can’t see anything—we’re essentially blind—but the move-

ments are so fast that we don’t even realize they’re happening. Our eyes look forward

during most of the saccades, but they look backward 10 to 15 percent of the time, reread-

ing letters and words.

13 IT’S A MYTH THAT CAPITAL LETTERS ARE INHERENTLY HARD TO READ

Figure13.2 shows an example of the saccade and ﬁxation pattern. The black dots

are the ﬁxations and the curved lines are the saccade movements.

Fortunately these saccades are really fast so you are not blind for long.

They are so fast that you don’t even realize they are happening.

FIGURE13.2 An example of a saccade and ﬁxation pattern

We use peripheral vision when we read

A saccade spans about seven to nine letters, but our perceptual span is actually double

that. In 1996, Kenneth Goodman found that we use peripheral vision to see what comes

next when we read. We read ahead about 15 letters at a time, viewing the characters to

the right (assuming we’re reading left to right), although now and then a saccade jumps

us backward and we reread a group of letters. Although we read ahead about 15 letters

at a time, we only get the meaning for part of that span. We pick up the semantic cues of

letters 1 through 7, but merely recognize letters 8 through 15.

Reading music is similar to reading text

People who read music ﬂuently use the same saccades, ﬁxations, and reading ahead of

15 “letters” that they do when reading text.

SO, IS ALL CAPITALS HARDER TO READ THEN?

We do actually read uppercase letters more slowly, but only because we don’t see them

as often. Most of what we read is in mixed case, so we’re used to it. If you practice read-

ing text in all capital letters, you’ll eventually read that text as fast as you read mixed

case. This doesn’t mean you should start using capital letters for all your text. Since

peole are unused to reading that way, it will slow them down. And these days, text in all

caps is perceived as “shouting” (Figure13.3).

*DOUBLE CHECK THE LOCATION YOU ARE SIGNING UP FOR

*BE SURE TO ASSIGN AND UNDO CODE (Codes are case sensitive)

*CHECK YOUR EMAIL FREQUENTELY - CLASS INFO WILL BE COMMUNICATED VIA EMAIL

FIGURE13.3 We perceive uppercase letters as shouting, but they aren’t inherently harder to read

sacca

e spans a

out seven to nine

etters,

ut our perceptua

span is actua

that. In 1

6, Kenneth

oodman found that we use peripheral vision to see what comes

next when we read. We read ahead about 15 letters at a time, viewin

the characters to

the right (assuming we’re reading left to right), although now and then a saccade jumps

us backward and we reread a group o

letters. Although we read ahead about 15 letters

t a time, we onl

et the meanin

or part o

that span. We pick up the semantic cues o

letters 1 throu

h 7, but merel

reco

nize letters 8 throu

h 15

People who read music ﬂuentl

use the same saccades, ﬁxations, and readin

ahead of

5 “letters” that they do when reading text.

HOW PEOPLE READ

A Good Summary Of The Research On Uppercase

Kevin Larson wrote a great article summarizing the research on uppercase versus

mixedcase:

http://www.microsoft.com/typography/ctfonts/wordrecognition.aspx

Takeaways

People perceive all capitals as shouting, and they’re unused to reading them, so use all

uppercase sparingly.

Save all capital letters for headlines, and when you need to get someone’s attention,

for example, before deleting an important ﬁle.

evin

arson wrote a great artic

e summarizing t

e researc

on uppercase versus

mix



case

http:

www.microsoft.com

raph

ctfonts

wordreco

nition.asp

14 READING AND COMPREHENDING ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS

14 READING AND COMPREHENDING ARE

TWO DIFFERENT THINGS

If you’re a biologist, then this paragraph might make sense right away:

The regulation of the TCA cycle is largely determined by substrate availability and

product inhibition. NADH, a product of all of the dehydrogenases in the TCA cycle, with

the exception of succinate dehydrogenase, inhibits pyruvate dehydrogenase, isocitrate

dehydrogenase, a-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, while succinyl-CoA inhibits succinyl-

CoA synthetase and citrate synthase.

If you’re not a biologist, then it might take you a long time to understand what that

paragraph says. You can read the paragraph, but that doesn’t mean you understand it.

New information is assimilated more thoroughly when it is plugged into existing cognitive

structures.

You can calculate the readability of your text

The Flesch-Kincaid formula is commonly used to calculate the readability of text. It pro-

vides both a reading ease score and a reading grade-level score. The higher the scores,

the easier the passage is to read. Low scores mean the passage is hard to read. The

formula is shown in Figure14.1.

206.835 – 1.015

total words

()

total syllables

total sentences total words

– 84.6

()

FIGURE14.1 The Flesch-Kincaid Readability Formula

CAN YOU READ THIS PARAGRAPH?

Eevn touhgh the wrosd are srcmaelbd, cahnecs are taht you can raed tihs praagarph

aynawy. The order of the ltteers in each word is not vrey ipmrotnat. But the frsit and lsat

ltteer msut be in the rhgit psotitoin. The ohter ltetres can be all mxeid up and you can

sitll raed whtiuot a lot of porbelms. This is bceusae radenig is all aobut atciniptanig the

nxet word.

When you read you don’t absorb exact letters and words and then interpret them

later. You anticipate what will come next. The more previous knowledge you have, the

easier it is to anticipate and interpret.

The Flesch-Kincaid

ormula is commonl

used to calculate the readabilit

text. It pr

vides both a readin

ease score and a readin

rade-level score. The hi

her the scores,

e easier t

e passage is to rea

ow scores mean t

e passage is

to rea

ormula is shown in

igure14.

206

835

– 1.

()

tota

l w

–

()

total s

llable

tota

wor

E14

he Flesch-Kincaid Readabilit

Formul

HOW PEOPLE READ

An online tool for calculating readability

Some word processing software has the Flesch-Kincaid formula built in. Or you can use

this online tool to calculate the reading level of a particular passage:

http://www.standards-schmandards.com/exhibits/rix/index.php

I tested a paragraph from one of my blog articles (www.whatmakesthemclick.net).

The results are shown in Figure14.2.

FIGURE14.2 An example of readability score

results from one of my blog articles

TITLES AND HEADLINES ARE CRITICAL

Read this paragraph:

First you sort the items into like categories. Using color for sorting is common, but

you can also use other characteristics, such as texture or type of handling needed. Once

you have sorted the items, you are ready to use the equipment. You want to process

each category from the sorting separately. Place one category in the machine at a time.

What is the paragraph about? It’s hard to understand. But what if I give you the same

paragraph with a title:

14 READING AND COMPREHENDING ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS

Using your new washing machine

First you sort the items into like categories. Using color for sorting is common, but you

can also use other characteristics, such as texture or type of handling needed. Once

you have sorted the items, you are ready to use the equipment. You want to process

each category from the sorting separately. Place one category in the machine at a time.

The paragraph is still poorly written, but now at least it is understandable.

People use dierent parts of the brain to process words

Words are processed in dierent parts of the brain depending on what you’re doing with

them. Viewing or reading words, listening, speaking, generating verbs—all of these word

activities engage dierent parts of the brain, as shown in Figure14.3.

Passively viewing words

Listening to words

Speaking words Generating verbs

FIGURE14.3 Dierent parts of the brain process words

HOW PEOPLE READ

WHAT YOU REMEMBER OF WHAT YOU READ DEPENDS

ON YOUR POINT OF VIEW

In a study by Anderson and Pichert (1978), people read a story about a house and

the contents within the house. One group was told to read the story from a buyer’s

standpoint, and another group was told to read the story from a burglar’s point of view.

The information they remembered after reading the story diered depending on their

viewpoint.

Takeaways

People are active readers. What they understand and remember from what they read

depends on their previous experience, their point of view while reading, and the

instructions they are given beforehand.

Don’t assume that people will remember speciﬁc information in what they read.

Provide a meaningful title or headline. It’s one of the most important things you can do.

Tailor the reading level of your text to your audience. Use simple words and fewer syl-

lables to make your material accessible to a wider audience.

15 PATTERN RECOGNITION HELPS PEOPLE IDENTIFY LETTERS IN DIFFERENT FONTS

15 PATTERN RECOGNITION HELPS

PEOPLE IDENTIFY LETTERS IN

DIFFERENT FONTS

People have been debating which fonts are better, easier to read, or most appropri-

ate for centuries. One such debate centers around the use of two types of fonts: serif

versus sans serif. Some argue that sans serif typefaces are easier to read because they

are plain; others contend that serif fonts are easier to read because the serifs draw the

eye toward the next letter. In fact, research shows no dierence in comprehension,

reading speed, or preference between serif and sans serif fonts.

People identify letters through pattern recognition

How is it that you can recognize all of the marks in Figure15.1 as the letter A?

FIGURE15.1 We can recognize many variations of a letter

You haven’t memorized all of these versions of the letter A. Instead you’ve formed a

memory pattern of what an A looks like. When you see something similar, your brain rec-

ognizes the pattern. (See the discussion of geons in the chapter called “How We See”

for more information about how we recognize shapes.)

Designers use fonts to evoke a mood, brand, or association. Some font families

invoke a time period (old fashioned versus modern), while others convey seriousness or

playfulness. In terms of readability, however, the font you choose is not critical as long as

it is not so decorative as to make it hard to identify the letters; some fonts interfere with

the brain’s ability to recognize patterns.

Figure15.2 shows dierent decorative fonts. The ﬁrst font is relatively easy to read;

the others become progressively more dicult. They make it hard for the brain to recog-

nize the patterns of the letters.

How is it that you can recognize all of the marks i

Figure15.1

the

lette

E1

e can recognize many variations of a letter

You

n’

riz

ese

ette

. Instead

ou’ve formed a

memor

pattern of what an

ou see somet

simi

ar,

our

rain rec

ognizes the pattern. (See the discussion of geons in the chapter called “How We See”

or more information about how we recognize shapes.

)