Emo Pt. II

(Based on the same chapter from the last post.)

"Once a customer has learned the shop or shelf layout, it is time to redo it, goes this marketing philosophy. Otherwise,, a shopper wanting a can of soup will simply go directly to the soup and not notice any of the other enticing items. Rearranging the store forces the shopper to explore previously unvisited aisles. Similarly, rearranging how the soups are stored prevents the shopper from buying the same type of soup each time without ever trying any other variety. So shelves get rearranged, and related items are put nearby. Stores get restructured, and the most popular items are placed at the farthest ends of the store, with impulse items where they are most visible. There is a perverse set of usability principles at play here: make it difficult to buy the most desired items, and extremely easy for the impulse items."
I found this to be an enlightening passage as well as interesting. This is something I never knew. I mean, I thought that certain items were in the back, but as someone who doesn't eat dairy... I guess I never cared how far away the milk was. I did know that fruit is often put in the entryway to entice customers. I just find this passage so fascinating because it's such a creepy science. We're like lab rats and fall for the tricks!

Since Norman uses the three design types (Visceral, behavioral,and reflective) I find that these work well for each. Not because I had ever heard of the word visceral before, but now that I've learned these three by these names, it is hard to try to rename them. I would think that visceral could stand to have its name changed to something more obviously referring to visual appearances. I think behavioral could be more like functionality. I think reflective is such a "deep" topic, it would be tough to name it with a word that would correctly sum it up.

I think that every item that is to be designed should have an element of each of the three designs. I think that reflective design is going to be part of everything designed. Visceral makes me think of more simple products that can be more about looking cool than having a high performance. And behavioral is so important for all designs in the sense that a product should do its job and do it well. I don't think that there is a way to really determine which is more important for any given product. I think the simpler the design, the more visceral is can be; the more complex the design/functions, the more behavioral the design should be. I already mentioned that reflective kind of seeps into every aspect of design anyway.