Next time you are bored at work, here's a little experiment to help you procrastinate.
Approach a coworker and recite a random list of words. Something like, “Stethoscope, pickle, muffin, charisma, snapdragon, encyclopedia, jiggle, lawnmower, pretzel, sandcastle, Aristotle, pancake, damsel, bridge, magnesium, pediatrician, chihuahua” would be great. Then, ask him to tell you what words you said.
If your colleague is anything like the subjects of similar experiments that have been conducted by actual science professionals, you'll find that he'll remember the first item or two maybe the last one. You'll also find that he has trouble coming up with the items in the middle. Real scientists call this the “primacy and recency effect,” and it basically just means that it's easiest for folks to remember the first and last things they see or hear.
How This Can Make Your Website Better
Since important scientist people have established that the primacy and recency effect theory holds water, we can use this information to design effective websites. We know that on a typical web page, there is some semi-important information and some SUPER important information. If we know that an average person is likely to have the strongest memories of the first and last thing he reads, we can make sure that the SUPER important information is strategically placed in a spot that is likely to be read first or last.
We've actually got tons of little tricks like this up our sleeves. We not only design websites that look good, but we use our knowledge of human behavior to make sure websites get their messages across in the strongest way possible. It's all part of a day's work here at IntelliSites.
By the way, now that it's been a couple of minutes since you read our sample item list, try to remember what the items were without looking. We'll betcha you'll have the toughest time with the items in the middle of the list.
How'd you do?
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