Table of Contents for

Designing for How People Think

Chapter 5. Memory/Semantics

Abstracting away the detail

It may not feel like it, but as we take in a scene or a conversation, we are continuously dropping a majority of the concrete physical representation of the scene, leaving us with a very abstract and concept-based representation of what we were focusing on. But perhaps you feel like you are much more of a “visual thinker” and really do get all the details. Great! Please tell me which of the below is the real U.S. penny: 

Figure 5.1: Which is the real U.S. penny?

If you are American, you may have seen a thousand examples of these in your lifetime. So surely this isn’t hard for a visual thinker! (You can find the answers to these riddles at the end of the chapter.) 

Okay maybe that last test might be considered unfair for you if you rarely have paper currency, let alone metal change. Well then, let’s consider a letter you’ve seen millions of times: The letter “G”. Which of the following is the correct orientation of the letter “G” in lower case? 

Figure 5.2: Which is the real “G”? 

Not so easy, right? In most cases, when we look at something, we feel like we have a camera snapshot in our mind. But in less than a second, your mind loses the physical details and reverts to a pre-stored stereotype of it — and all the assumptions that go along with it. 

Remember, not all stereotypes are negative. The actual Merriam-Webster definition is “something conforming to a fixed or general pattern.” We have stereotypes for almost anything: a telephone, coffee cup, bird, tree, etc. 

Figure 5.3: Stereotypes of phone

When we think of these things, our memory summons up certain key characteristics. These concepts are constantly evolving (e.g., from wired telephone to mobile phone). Only the older generations might pick the one on the left as a “phone.” 

It terms of cognitive economy, it makes logical sense that we wouldn’t store every perspective, color, and light/shadow angle of every phone we have ever seen. Rather, we quickly move to the concept of a phone and use that representation (e.g., modern iPhone) and fill in the gaps in memory for a specific instance with the concept of that object. 

Design Tip: As product designers, we can use this quirk of human cognition to our benefit. By activating an abstract concept that is already in someone’s head (e.g., the steps required to buy something online), we can efficiently manage expectations, be consistent with expectations, and make the person more trusting of the experience. 

Trash Talk

Let me provide you with an experiment to show just how abstract our memory can be. First, get out a piece of paper and pencil and draw an empty square on the piece of paper. After reading this paragraph, go to the next page and look at the image for 20 seconds (don’t pick up your pencil yet, though). After 20 seconds are up, I want you to scroll back or hide your screen so that you can’t look at the image. Only then, I want you to pick up your pencil and draw everything that you saw. It doesn’t have to be Rembrandt (or an abstract Picasso), just a quick big-picture depiction of the objects you saw and where they were in the scene. Just a sketch is fine — and you can have 2 minutes for that. 

Figure 5.4: Draw your image here

Okay, go! Remember, 20 seconds to look (no drawing), then 2 minutes to sketch (no peeking). 

FIgure 5.55.: Picture of an alleyway

Since I can’t see your drawing (though I’m sure it’s quite beautiful), I’ll need you to grade yourself. Look back at the image and compare it to your sketch. Did you capture everything? Two trash cans, one trash can lid, a crumpled-up piece of trash, and the fence? 

Now, going one step further, did you capture the fact that one of the trash cans and the fence are both cut off at the top? Or that you can’t see the bottom of the trash cans or lid? When many people see this image, or images like it, they unconsciously “zoom out” and complete the objects according to their stored representations of similar objects. In this example, they tend to extend the fence so its edges go into a point, make the lid into a complete circle, and sketch the unseen edges of the two garbage cans. All of this makes perfect sense if you are using the stereotypes and assumptions we have about trash cans, but it isn’t consistent with what we actually saw in this particular image. 

Figure 5.6: Examples of Boundary Extension (Weintraub, 1997)

Technically, we don’t know what’s actually beyond the rectangular frame of this image. We don’t know for sure that the trash can lid extends beyond what we can see, or that the fence top ends just beyond what we can see in this image. There could be a whole bunch of statues of David sitting on top of the fence, for all we know. 

Figure 5.7: Did you draw these statues above the tops of the fence posts?

https://flic.kr/p/4t29M3

Our natural tendency to mentally complete the image is called “boundary extension.” Our visual system prepares for the rest of the image as if we’re looking through a cardboard tube, or a narrow doorway. Boundary extension is just one example of how our minds move quickly from very concrete representations of things to representations that are much more abstract and conceptual.

The main implication for product managers and designers is this: A lot of what we do and how we act is based on unseen expectations, stereotypes, and anticipations, rather than what we’re actually seeing when light hits the back of our retinas. We as product and service designers need to discover what those hidden anticipations and stereotypes might be (as we’ll discuss in Part II of the book).

Stereotypes of services

Human memory, as we’ve been discussing, is much more abstract than we generally think it is. When remembering something, we often forget many perceptual details and rely on what we have stored in our semantic memory. The same is true of events. How many times have you heard a parent talk about the time that one of their kids misbehaved many years ago, and incorrectly blamed it on “the child that was always getting into trouble”, rather than the “good one” (I was fortunate enough to be in the latter camp and got away with all kinds of things according to my Mom’s memory, thanks to stereotypes). 

The trash can drawing above was a very visual example of stereotypes, but it need not be all about visual perception. We have stereotypes about how things might work, and how we might interact in a certain situation. Here’s an example that has to do more with language, interactions, and events. 

Imagine inviting a colleague to a celebratory happy hour. In her mind, “happy hour” may mean swanky decorations, modern bar stools, drinks with fancy ice cube blocks, and sophisticated “mixologists” with impeccable clothing. Happy hour in your mind, on the other hand, might mean sticky floors, $2 beers on tap, and the same grumpy guy named “Buddy” in the same old t-shirt asking “Whatcha want?” 

Figures 5.8 and 5.9: What is “Happy Hour” to you?

Both of these are “happy hour,” but the underlying expectations of what’s going to happen in each of these places might be very different. Just like we did in the sketching exercise, we jump quickly from concrete representations (e.g., the words “happy hour”) to abstract inferences. We anticipate where we might sit, how we might pay, what it might smell like, what we will hear, who we will meet there, how you order drinks, and so on. 

In product and service design, we need to know what words mean to our customers, and what associate they have with those words. “Happy hour” is a perfect example. When there is a dramatic difference between a customer’s expectation of a product or service and how we designed it, we are suddenly fighting an uphill battle by trying to overcome our audience’s well-practiced expectations. 

The value of understanding mental models

Knowing and activating the right mental model (i.e., “psychological representations of real, hypothetical, or imaginary situations”) can save us a huge amount of time as product or service designers. This is something we rarely hear anything about in customer experience — and yet, understanding and activating the right mental models will build trust with our target audience and reduce the need for instructions. 

Case study: The concept “weekend” 

Figure 5.10: Words used to describe a Weekend

Challenge: In one project for a financial institution, my team and I interviewed two groups of people regarding how they use, manage, and harness money to accomplish their goals in life. The two groups consisted of: 1) a set of young professionals, most of whom were unmarried, without children, and 2) a group that was a little bit older, most of whom had young children. We asked them what they did on the weekend. You can see their responses in the visualizations above. 

Result: Clearly, the two groups had very different semantic associations with the concept of “weekend.” Their answers helped us glean: (A) What the phrase “the weekend” means to each of these groups, and (B) How the two groups are categorically different, including what they value and how they spend their time. Our further research found very large differences in the concept of luxury for each group. In tailoring products/services to each of these groups, we would need to keep in mind their respective mental model of “weekend.” This could influence everything from the language and images we use to the emotions we try to evoke. 

Acknowledging the diversity of types of mental models

Thus far, we’ve discussed how our minds go very quickly from specific visual details or words to abstract concepts, and the representations that are generated by those visual features or words can be distinct across audiences. But also recognize there are many other types of stereotypical patterns. In addition to these perceptual or semantic patterns, there are also stereotypical eye patterns and motor movements. 

You probably remember being handed someone’s phone or a remote control you’ve never used before and saying to yourself something like: “Ugh! Where do I begin? Why is this thing not working? How do I get it to…? I can’t find the…?”. That experience is the collision between your stereotypical eye and motor movements, and the need to override them. 

The point I’m driving home here is that there are a wide range of customer expectations baked into interactions with products and services. Our experiences form the basis for mental assumptions about people, places, words, interaction designs … pretty much everything. This makes sense because under normal circumstances, stored and automated patterns are incredibly more mentally efficient and allow your mental focus to be elsewhere. As product and service managers and designers, we need to both: 

• Understand our users’ many diverse stored concepts and automatic processes; and
• Anticipate (and counteract) confusion if and when we deviate from those mental assumptions. 

Riddle Answer Key! 

• Page XX: Which is the real U.S. penny? 
  • Answer: Row 1, Column 4. If you didn’t get it right, join the club. Most times, answers are all over the map. 
• Page XX: Which is the real “G”? 
  • Answer: No. 3 is the O.G. (Original g).