Paper Choices
Allen shares that “research by Maferima Toure-Tillery [co-author Lili Wang]. . . finds that people are more likely to engage in virtuous behavior when they make their selections on paper than when they are using...
Curvy Lines and Balloons
Curvy Space The new American Museum of Natural History takes the use of curving lines to an extreme. How do you think it would feel to be in this space? Images of the museum: ...
How to build a communal space
Communal Living, Lessons Learned THE OPEN WORKSHOP developed the House of Commons exhibit “presenting over thirty-five case studies of past and present collective housing projects primarily in San Francisco and the Bay Area. In...
The Science of Plazas, for Patios
What have neuroscientists learned about plaza design that you can apply in your patio: Design for what you actually want to happen on that patio.If you enjoy barbequing, not compromise on space for the...
Having a Positive, Productive Conversation
There are ways that design can make it more likely that you’ll have a constructive, mutually-beneficial conversation with someone else—whether you’re trying to negotiate world peace or help your teenager understand that they do...
Open the windows!
It’s open window time, pretty much worldwide! As long as you live in a place with clean air, there’s no time like the present to let some fresh air in. Lots of people like...
ADHD at work
Abrams studied people with ADHD during the pandemic and reports that “Working from home has also presented challenges for adults with ADHD, including dealing with the loss of boundaries—such as a dedicated workspace or...
Health and Neighbourhood Walkability
Howell and Booth tie neighborhood walkability and the presence of outdoor amenities to better health and fewer cases of diabetes among residents. They share that “researchers and policymakers alike have been searching for effective...
Choosing Others, Or Not
Uziel and Tomer Schmidt-Barad probed how having control and choosing to be alone or with others influence wellbeing. They share that “Stable social relationships are conducive to well-being. . . . The present investigation...
Looking at the Desert
Yin, Bratman, Browning, Spengler, and Olvera-Alvarez evaluated how seeing the desert scenes through a window affects stress levels. The Yin-lead team reports that they studied “the effect of a virtual reality (VR) exposure to...
Conspicuous Consumption and Social Jet Lag
Yin and Huang report that “People’s schedules are jointly determined by their biological clock and social clock. However, their social clock often deviates from the biological clock (e.g., having to get up earlier than...
Decision making “speed”
The speed at which we feel we’re moving (in a car or train, for example) influences decisions made. Shani-Feinstein, Kyung, and Goldenberg share that “With recent technological innovations, people increasingly experience speed during decision...
How to Feel Less Crowded While Waiting
Reyt and colleagues report that “Crowded waiting areas are volatile environments, where seemingly ordinary people often get frustrated and mistreat frontline staff…. we suggest an intervention that can ‘massage’ outsiders’ perceptions of crowding and...
Keep those blinds open!
Satish, Joseph, and Nanavati, recapping the benefits of natural light, report that “Exposure to daylight, in particular, plays an outsized role in our overall well-being and mental health. Like almost all animals, humans have...
Dangers of High Temperature Walks
Asano and colleagues report that “In the experiments [conducted], a total of 96 participants took a mathematical addition test in an air-conditioned room before and after walking in an actual outdoor environment. Results of...
The Power of the Placebo
When I read “Write It in Garmond” by R.E. Hawley in February (at https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/01/magazine/garamond.html), I couldn’t help but think about the power of design placebos. Hawley writes “a few months ago, while I was...
Feeling crowded makes us angry..
Next time you’re feeling crowded or putting together some sort of event, etc., where people might feel crowded, apply these research findings from Reyt and colleagues: “Crowded waiting areas are volatile environments, where seemingly...
Personality and musical taste
Greenberg and teammates report that they “built on theory and research in personality, cultural, and music psychology to map the terrain of preferences for Western music using data from 356,649 people across six continents....
What does being “Creative” mean to you?
Having an argument about whether something is creative or not? Culture may influence your answers. Kharkhurin and colleagues found that “The concept of creativity varies by culture. . . . Creative daring . ....
Gender preferences for hotel robots…
Turns out the sex of a robot makes a difference! While we might look at stereotyping issues, this research points out that preference is still biased to the female in this service industry. Read...
Weather affects our opinion!
Reviews may not be as objective as they seem. Brandes and Dover researched how weather conditions influence user reviews; they report that their study “uses a unique dataset that combines 12 years of data on...
We chose Air Purifiers and think they make our rooms cooler…
Cooper and associates have learned that “One of the most widely available technologies to clean the air in homes of particulate matter of less than 2.5 µm in diameter (PM2.5), known to have negative health...
Fear affects us physically
Tashjian and colleagues studied what happens to us when we’re in a scary place (for this project, a haunted house with 17 rooms) and the social nature of fear-type responses. They share that “Threats...
Pollution actually stops us from making green choices…
Ming, Deng, and Wu found that “People are less willing to engage in PEB [pro-environmental behaviours] (e.g., purchasing pro-environmental products, recycling, sustainable travel, donation to environmental organizations) when air pollution is severe. . ....
New new new! We love new!
Ever wondered why we feel compelled to buy new stuff? Jie and Li found that “consumers exhibit mere newness preference across many product domains—preferring chronologically newer options over older options with no substantive benefits...
Thinking about Smelling
The powerful effects of what we smell on how we live was discussed in a recent article in The New York Times—could it be that we’re about to enter “The Smell Age.” On January...
Generation What?
We regularly hear that the generation that someone’s in should drive the design of the space they’re in. Tom Standage’s review of The Generation Myth: Why When You’re Born Matters Less Than You Think...
“Awe”some is good!
The BBC has decided to talk about awe, something applied psychologists have been fascinated with for years. David Robson, on January 2, 2022 (“Awe: The ‘Little Earthquake’ That Could Free Your Mind,” https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220103-awe-the-little-earthquake-that-could-free-your-mind) talks...
Eating red…
Does the colour of your plates make a difference to the amount and what you eat? Steele and Rash how red dishes affect what we eat… They share that that two previously published “articles...
How background music affects our interactions.
Chang and Kim’s findings will be particularly interesting to you if you’ve spent a lot of time during lockdowns watching movies. They report that “Films in general, and background music in particular, have the...
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