[Sigia-l] Sigia-l Digest, Vol 64, Issue 9

[Eric Reiss]

Hi Kevin,

Actually, brain chemistry, like physical anatomy *is* pretty much the same
from person to person. And reactions are pretty much the same, too - even
across cultures. That's why most babies laugh when they're happy and cry
when they are frightened. These responses tend to change with age due to
cultural norms or overexposure to certain types of stimuli. But still, if
you examine the mechanisms of reward chemicals in the limbic system, etc.
some interesting thoughts come to mind (well they gave me an idea...).
There's a ton of research out there. Start with Wikipedia for a good
layman's explanation.

The problems related to depression aren't so much the treatment as
determining the cause of the depression. Not surprisingly, specific
treatment depends on what has been diagnosed. For example, depression caused
by reduced exposure to sunlight is generally not treated in the same manner
as depression caused by emotional stress, such as grief. Or there may be
other triggers, such as those related to postpartum depression.

Many forms of depression can be solved via psychotherapy and cognitive
therapy rather than medication - but all treatments ultimately affect brain
chemistry.

Side-effects of medications are also problematical. As yet, no one has yet
figured out how to accurately measure serotonin levels in the brain. But
most research suggests that chemical imbalance is a central factor.

But I digress...

I won't pretend to be a physician, but I have a reasonable understanding of
the basic science involved here. I'm merely exploring a link between a
well-known scenario in the design world that seems to equate with documented
chemical response mechanisms in the brain. Wouldn't it be interesting to
learn that our goofy clients aren't really so goofy, but that they're merely
responding in a natural way to a given stimulus?

I am purposely holding my cards close to my chest because there's still a
survey in the works. There are limits to how far I dare skew certain things.

But thanks for asking :)

Cheers,
Eric

-----------------------
Eric Reiss
CEO
The FatDUX Group
Copenhagen, Denmark
http://www.fatdux.com
office: (+45) 39 29 67 77
mobile: (+45) 20 12 88 44
skype: ericreiss
twitter: @elreiss

FatDUX is an official sponsor of the
Usability Professionals' Association
http://www.upassoc.org

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-----Original Message-----
From: sigia-l-bounces at asis.org [mailto:sigia-l-bounces at asis.org] On Behalf
Of Kevin Bishop
Sent: 13. januar 2010 17:31
To: sigia-l at asis.org
Subject: Re: [Sigia-l] Sigia-l Digest, Vol 64, Issue 9

Eric,

If I'm reading you correctly -- and you've been conservative in your
explanations so I very well may not be -- your premise that everyone's
brain chemistry creates similar or identical reactions to similar or
identical stimuli in group contexts is an exceedingly reductionist
perspective on human behavior and entirely too deterministic to be
considered in any way scientific. (Granted, it may not be your
intention to be scientific and embrace the skepticism that proposes a
hypothesis and then deliberately tests its assumptions.)

Can you point me to literature that describes tests where they
measured brain chemistry in the context of specific situations and in
the immediacy of the moment? We hear all the time of studies of brain
activity (not chemistry) when, for example, viewing photos of people
with different expressions, or when singing or reciting poetry, but
it's unclear to me how they'd gauge brain chemistry in the middle of
an activity.

Consider this: if brain chemistry was so simple and uniform across all
individuals, why is the treatment of a common illness like depression
so difficult and complicated to treat with pharmaceuticals?

With that said, I admire your interest and drive in trying to find a
common factor that would explain why people (clients) waffle in their
reactions to abstractions, on the one hand, and designs, on the other,
of information/UI's. For many of us it is -- no doubt! -- maddening.
;)


Cheers,
-kb
Kevin W Bishop
kevinwbishop at gmail.com


On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 5:00 AM,  <sigia-l-request at asis.org> wrote:
>
> You don't need brain samples. The chemistry of human reaction is already
> pretty well documented. What I hope to do is see if there is a correlation
> between what we observe as designers and how the brain has been shown to
> react to similar stimuli in other situations.
>
> I haven't done medical research since my university days. And I don't
intend
> to start again now. But recent studies of brain chemistry seem to provide
an
> explanation for a basic shift in attitude that I've noted empirically.
I'll
> leave it to someone else to do MRI studies during actual usability testing
> :)
>
> Cheers,
> Eric
>
> -----------------------
> Eric Reiss
> CEO
> The FatDUX Group
> Copenhagen, Denmark
> http://www.fatdux.com
> office: (+45) 39 29 67 77
> mobile: (+45) 20 12 88 44
> skype: ericreiss
> twitter: @elreiss
>
------------
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April 7-11, 2010
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