Harnessing Staring Power in Your Design
Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, a professor from Emory University has published a new book, Staring, How We Look, that is loaded with cognitive design insights. Some examples:
* Unpredictable sights cause us to stare and we both crave and dread them.
* We stare as a show of dominance, to flirt, and as an automatic reaction to unexpected sights (response to novelty).
* Those people and scenes that are visually unique (from very attractive to physically deformed or disturbing) can have a special influence over our thoughts and behaviors including attraction-repulsion, obligation, buying behavior and the like.
* As a response to novelty staring can cause a dopamine release.
The book includes 13 chapters looking at the why, what and where of staring. Check out this YouTube video introduction or press release. You can get some of the content for free on Google books.
