The Psychological Cocktail of Design

for Retail News Magazine 7–8/2022

Objectivity Can Explain Much, But Sometimes It’s the Subjective Variables That Matter Most.

“The difference between objective and subjective extension is one of relation to a context solely.”— William James

COMMUNICATION, PRESENTATION & SALES

We are all influenced not only by our external and social environments, but also by genetics, prejudices, and internal mental programming—a dynamic of nature versus nurture.

While we cannot observe unconscious processes completely, behavioral economics allows us to identify shared traits within specific target groups using eclectic tools.

OBJECTIVITY AND INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

Science often aims to generalize mental phenomena and provide objective data from experiments or observations.But it frequently neglects philosophical and humanistic dimensions of human existence.

Yet a person’s internal state is a key variable that affects how we behave in observable ways.

There’s an inseparable connection between physical conditions of the body and the environmental context in which they exist.

EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIO-CULTURAL ASPECTS

Our ability to learn from external stimuli is a fundamental human trait.The environment plays a crucial role in shaping:

• Our emotional climate,

• Which in turn influences our behavior and learning capacity.

The environment consists of social interactions, which also significantly shape our conduct.

Social roles and settings thus have a non-negligible impact on behavior.The socio-cultural perspective allows us to explore how social structures influence our decisions.

EVOLUTIONARY MECHANISMS

Biological studies of the brain evolved into interdisciplinary approaches, such as evolutionary psychology, which is rooted in Darwin’s theory of adaptation.

This field examines our adaptive capacities as variables that shape cognition and behavior over time.

CONDITIONING AND PROGRAMMING

Although we are born with some innate intelligence, most learning occurs through stimulus and response.

To this day, Pavlovian conditioning remains a staple in fields like advertising.

Designers play a pivotal role here—embedding visuals and lifestyle cues into products and services.

However, it’s reductionist to claim that environment alone drives all human behavior.

MOTIVES AND EMOTIONS

In the unconscious mind, emotions often precede cognition.Many debates explore whether emotions are pre-cognitive, arising before we’re even aware of them.

Unconscious conflicts and motivations are key variables in design thinking—and must be studied carefully.

Motives are mental constructs. While some behaviors can be generalized (e.g., altruism, empathy, reciprocity), we can’t fully define our own mental processes.

We may consider personality variables in psychodynamics, but the unconscious remains inaccessible in its entirety.

This explains why we often make wrong assumptions about customer behavior—because people themselves don’t consciously know why they act a certain way.In such cases, we rely more on real-world feedback and experience.

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL COCKTAIL: THE CORE OF DESIGN POTENTIAL

Studying mental processes is essential to high-quality design.

By using available scientific theories and interdisciplinary methods, we continue to explore:

• Consciousness,

• Evolutionary behaviors,

• Social and emotional mechanisms,

• All contributing to the success of human–design interaction.

  
  

Design is a discipline grounded in psychology, the external environment, and internal human biology and cognition. Our mental processes are far more complex than we ever imagined.