What people call "intuitive" is usually schema recognition. A design feels intuitive when it matches patterns users already know, and confusing when it asks them to learn a new one on the spot.

pretty much

your brain hates blank space, so it fills it with the nearest sample: you

In 1932, Frederic Bartlett gave British participants a Native American folk tale called “The War of the Ghosts” and asked them to recall it later.

it’s like taking the handles off doors because the room looks cleaner. technically the door still opens. good luck

annoyingly, no

asking helps, but the chapter is warning you about the gap between what feels true and what survives contact

The icon only became usable through years of mass adoption. Products used it long enough that users slowly built the association. It took time. Even after all that…

yep. how familiarity changes what people see is the trap door

then it shows up as what experts rely on

, John Sweller, Cognitive Science, 1988

make the hidden assumption visible before the review starts

then test the behavior, not just whether the room nods

and if a choice only works for informed, patient, caffeinated people, treat that as a bug

that’s the series tbh

design psychology is mostly noticing the human nonsense before it ships

deal. hydrate first