Irresistible Designs Give us Mental Energy
Monday, August 17th, 2009
There is an interesting article in Slate that talks about our fundamental drive to seek out information and how modern communication devices from Google to email and Twitter help us take it to the next level. I like how the article begins to zero in on the fact that the root-level craving here is not so much the information we find but the mental stimulation (energy) we get from the act of seeking. A couple of quotes to drive that home:
It is an emotional state Panksepp tried many names for: curiosity, interest, foraging, anticipation, craving, expectancy. He finally settled on seeking. Panksepp has spent decades mapping the emotional systems of the brain he believes are shared by all mammals, and he says, “Seeking is the granddaddy of the systems.”
The juice that fuels the seeking system is the neurotransmitter dopamine. The dopamine circuits “promote states of eagerness and directed purpose,” Panksepp writes. It’s a state humans love to be in. So good does it feel that we seek out activities, or substances, that keep this system aroused—cocaine and amphetamines, drugs of stimulation, are particularly effective at stirring it.
Seeking is fundamental just because we are hardwired to behave in a way that maximizes personal mental energy. The lesson for designers is clear – irresistible designs are those that deeply stir cognition to create mental energy.
