Psychology is necessary in Design

Psychology is the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behavior in a given context. Psychology is very important to design because designers can grasp what their customers want from psychology, either the price is low, or the unique and distinctive product.

In design, the most commonly used colour and shape are also related to psychology. They can create a state of mind for people. For example, the colour black affects the mind and body by helping to create an inconspicuous feeling, boosting confidence in appearance, increasing the sense of potential and possibility, or producing feelings of emptiness, gloom, or sadness.

Chunking Technique in Relation to Design and Visual Communication

According to Pinola(2018), “Most of us are able to store only about four to seven different items in our short-term memory. One way to get past this limit is to use a technique called chunking. By grouping several items into one larger whole, you’ll be able to remember much more.”

Chunking involves creating something more meaningful – and therefore memorable – from seemingly random bits of information(pinola,2008). For instance, to remember a list of things- such as tomato, apple, coffee, and orange, you can create a word out of the first letters (“TACO”), which is easier to remember that the individual items.

Chunking also can use in the design and visual communication. It can be used to grouping the information, once condensed, information can be “chunked” to contribute to reading efficiency.

 

 

References:

Pinola, M. (2018). Improve Your Short-Term Memory With The Chunking Technique. Retrieved from https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2012/09/improve-your-short-term-memory-with-the-chunking-technique/

 

3 Visual Examples of Products or Artefacts that Satisfy the Design Principle of Performance Load.

This is an example of reducing the cognitive load as the website has minimized the information. This makes webpage load faster.

 

The new car keys support remote control, allowing people to lock or unlock their cars at a distance. So people don’t have to take the time to put their keys in the keyhole. This undoubtedly reduces the kinematic load.

Figure 1

 

Voice assistants can make mobile phone operations easier.  For example, when you want to call someone, you do not have to open the address book and look for the person you want to call. All you need is activate the voice assistant and tell him to call the person.

Figure 2

 

References:

Figure 1: BMW 7 Series Automobile Key. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/search?biw=1920&bih=978&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=1EbgW8u4HNGoyAOt_J6oBw&q=cool+car+key&oq=cool+car+key&gs_l=img.3..0l5j0i30k1j0i8i30k1l4.2275.3110.0.3328.5.5.0.0.0.0.210.802.0j2j2.4.0….0…1c.1.64.img..1.4.801…0i7i30k1j0i7i5i30k1j0i8i7i30k1.0.058M5F6l9Wc#imgrc=4DcwTEFS_zNvGM:

Figure 2: The Voice Assistant Battle! (2017). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkpAro4zIwU

 

Performance Load

Performance load is the degree of mental and physical activity required to achieve a goal(Lidwell, Holden & Butler, 2003). If the performance load is high, performance time and errors increase, and the probability of successfully accomplishing the goal decreases. The number of commands that had to be remembered to perform a task was the cognitive load for that task. Performance load consists of two types of loads: cognitive load and kinematic load.

Cognitive load is the mental activity needed to accomplish a goal – perception, problem-solving and the amount of information that working memory can hold at one time(Sweller & Ayres, 2011).

The kinematic load is the degree of physical activity – the number of steps or movements, or amount of force – required to accomplish a goal(Lidwell, Holden & Butler, 2003).

 

 

References:

Lidwell, W., Holden, K., & Butler, J. (2003). Performance Load. In Universal Principles of Design (pp.  148‐149). Massachusetts: Rockport.

Sweller, J., Ayres, P., & Kalyuga, S. (2011). Cognitive load theory (Explorations in the learning sciences, instructional systems and performance technologies). New York: Springer. (2011). Retrieved November 5, 2018, from INSERT-MISSING-DATABASE-NAME.