RDC Blog

English, Wilson, and Keller-Olaman have investigated the role of place in the lives of women recovering from breast cancer.  Their work “suggests a strong interplay between emotions and place such that emotional geographies, which appear to be embedded within places of healing, play an important role in shaping and maintaining therapeutic landscapes.”  Each of the women interviewed in this study by English and her colleagues indicated that natural environments had been important for healing, and participants perceived nature as having “unique psychological healing properties that are not found in other places.”  In addition, “Throughout the interviews, there was also an emphasis on the healing properties of water.”  The researchers conclude that “the calming and inspiring characteristics of different aspects of nature seem to contribute to emotionally uplifting experiences” and that the women interviewed perceived that nature positively influences the recovery of physical health.

Jennifer English, Kathi Wilson, Sue Keller-Olaman.  2008.  “Health, Healing, and Recovery:  Therapeutic Landscapes and the Everyday Lives of Breast Cancer Survivors.” Social Science and Medicine, vol. 67, pp. 68-78.

Balcetis and Dunning have collected additional evidence that perception is not objective, but contingent upon the mental state of the observer.  They determined that “Perceivers tend to see desirable objects (i.e., those that can fulfill immediate goals – a water bottle to assuage their thirst, money they can win, a personality test providing favorable feedback) as physically closer to them than less desirable objects.” Designers can use this information to locate fixed points, such as water fountains, when layout challenges make tough design choices necessary.

Emily Balcetis and David Dunning.  “Wishful Seeing:  More Desired Objects Are Seen as Closer.”  Psychological Science, in press.

Economists Steven Levitt and John List have re-examined the data from the research that originally gave us the term “Hawthorne Effect” which is the “idea that the very act of being experimented upon changes subjects’ behaviour.”  During the original project at a manufacturing plant, lighting levels were changed (so that the workplace was either brighter or dimmer) but worker productivity did not vary in a reasonable way, “it did not matter what was done, so long as something was changed, productivity rose.”  The re-examination indicated that there were no systematic changes in productivity related to experimental actions.  As reported “It turns out that idiosyncrasies in the way the experiments were conducted may have led to the misleading interpretations of what happened.”  Light levels were always changed, for example, on days when the factories were closed, but workers at the test plant always seem to have been more productive on their first day back at work.  In addition, productivity fell when the experimentation stopped at the beginning of the summer, but output generally fell at that plant during the summer. 

“Questioning the Hawthorne Effect:  Light Work:  Being Watched May Not Affect Behaviour, After All.”  The Economist, vol. 391, no. 8634, p. 74.

A lot of the metaphors we use everyday are more reality-based than you might at first assume.  As Isanski and West report:  “The cold shoulder. A heavy topic.  A heroic white knight.  We regularly use concrete, sensory-rich metaphors like these to express abstract ideas and complicated emotions.  But a growing body of research is suggesting that these metaphors are more than just colorful literary devices – there may be an underlying neural basis that literally embodies these metaphors.”  For example, feeling socially distant from other people makes us literally feel cold and colors are linked in our subconscious to morality – with black being tied to immorality and white to morality. Researchers feel that these color associations may be rooted in concerns for physical safety and relate to being in dark places.  Carrying heavy objects requires more effort, just as thinking about heavy topics does.  Next time a sensory-rich metaphor comes to mind as you move through a design project, take heed! 

Barbara Isanski and Catherine West.  2010.  “The Body of Knowledge:  Understanding Embodied Cognition.”  The Observer, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 14-18.

Premature babies who listen to music by Mozart grow faster than children who don’t listen to it.  Growing faster makes premature babies stronger sooner and better at fighting disease.  It is unclear at this time if the same effects would be found with other types of music or even other classical music, more specifically.  Wiring neonatal intensive care units for music systems seems like a good idea, in any case.

“A Sonata a Day Keeps the Doctor Away.”  2010.  Press release, The American Friends of Tel Aviv University, http://www.aftau.org

Gulwadi has examined residential environments to identify ways they can be designed to help reduce stress among people caring for sick family members and friends in their homes.  She suggests that these individuals can be restored through positive distractions outside the windows of the home, sunlight, and a view that includes places that provide “a sense of being away either when viewed or when actually experienced.”  Gulwadi indicates that solar tubes can bring sunlight into interior environments in which it would otherwise be unavailable.  Caregivers need a comfortable place to socialize outside of the caregiving space.  Also beneficial is a private place that caregivers can claim as their own that is separate from the caregiving area.  These findings are likely to be particularly useful to people designing senior living facilities and residences most likely to be lived in by caregiving individuals.

Gowri Gulwadi.  2009.  “Restorative Home Environments for Family Caregivers.”  Journal of Aging Studies, vol. 23, pp. 197-204.

The color of the light in the room that it is consumed in influences the perceived taste of wine.  This finding by Oberfeld and his colleagues is pertinent to restaurant design.  White wine tastes better in blue or red light than under green or white light.  People are also willing to spend more money on white wine when it is shown in a red, as opposed to a green light. During the study by Oberfeld and his co-workers, white wine was also perceived as 1.5 times sweeter when tasted in red (as opposed to white or green) light.  Thee effects were found even when the color of the wine itself has not affected by the color of the light.  The researchers conclude that:  “As the private and public places where beverages are consumed change in ambient color, we should expect the taste experience to change as well. Additionally, our data show that the subjective value of the wine and consequently, the amount of money consumers are willing to spend for it can be influenced by ambient color. Thus, the interior design of, for example, a wine bar should take these effects into consideration.”

Daniel Oberfeld, Heiko Hecht, Ulrich Allendorf, and Florian Wickelmaier.  2009.  “Ambient Lighting Modifies the Flavor of Wine.”  Journal of Sensory Studies, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 797-832.

Women usually have a better sense of touch than men, because their fingers are generally smaller than men’s fingers.  On smaller fingers, sensory receptors are more tightly packed.  This disparity in sensory acuity becomes relevant to designers when men with larger fingers select finishes that will be felt regularly by women with smaller fingers or when mixed sex groups are working together to select finishes, for example.

“Smaller is Better for Finger Sensitivity.”  2009.  Press release, Society for Neuroscience, http://www.sfn.org.

Whether shoppers are experts in a product category or novices influences the best form for a shop.  More knowledgeable shoppers prefer that those products with which they are familiar be displayed in more novel and exotic ways than shoppers without much product related expertise.  Poynor and Wood conclude, “This research shows that the route to creating the most satisfied and well-informed consumer can only be determined by considering consumer familiarity with product categories and their expectations about the retail environment.”

Cait Poynor and Stacy Wood.   “Smart Subcategories:  How Assortment Formats Influence Consumer Learning and Satisfaction.”  Journal of Consumer Research, in press.