<\/a><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
Study 2 Results<\/h2>\n
In Study 2, participants selected the intentionally distinct design in only three of the eight cases (fewer than in Study 1), also showing no statistical preference. A plurality of respondents chose the distinct design only once (43% for scenario 8).<\/p>\n
Returning to scenarios 4 and 6, reducing the color vibrancy seemed to have the desired effect. In both cases, participants now selected the more distinct design. However, in scenario 5 participants still preferred both blue buttons over the less vibrant green button. The blue button may be a convention that participants are more familiar with (at least compared to an orange or green button).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Summary and Discussion<\/h2>\n
Across two studies that investigated the Von Restorff effect, we found<\/p>\n
Isolation alone doesn\u2019t predict selection well.<\/strong> In Study 1, participants selected the most distinct design only half the time, and only two of those were selected by a majority of respondents. In Study 2, the distinct design was selected less frequently, in only three of the eight scenarios.<\/p>\nPreference isn\u2019t always about isolation.<\/strong> These results suggest that researchers who ask preference questions about design aren\u2019t necessarily always getting just a measure of distinctness. It\u2019s possible that distinctiveness plays an important role in a participant\u2019s selection, but it may be overshadowed by (or interact with) other design elements.<\/p>\nDesign elements confound the issue.<\/strong> It\u2019s possible that other aspects of a design, such as color vibrancy, density of design elements, and size play a larger role in preference than isolation. Future research can better isolate these effects.<\/p>\nIt was important to include multiple scenarios.<\/strong> If we had studied only scenario 2 in Study 2, we would have concluded that there was a Von Restorff effect, but it was inhibiting instead of increasing frequency of selection. If we had studied only scenario 4 in Study 2, we would have concluded that there was a significant Von Restorff effect in the expected direction. If we had studied only scenario 1 in Study 2, we would have concluded that there was no Von Restorff effect at all.<\/p>\nIf the Von Restorff effect exists for this type of selection, it\u2019s elusive.<\/strong> By averaging across multiple types of manipulations in the two studies, it\u2019s apparent that the selection of the distinct option was highly variable across the scenarios. Overall, there did not appear to be any consistent Von Restorff effect. It\u2019s possible that there might be some specific conditions in which manipulation of visual design elements does consistently inhibit or increase selections of the distinct option, but detecting this would require careful and complex experimental design.<\/p>\nSituations were simulated but similar to UX testing.<\/strong> We asked participants to consider hypothetical (although common) situations when making their selections. Participants didn\u2019t actually sign up or purchase in our study. It\u2019s possible that testing in-situ may have different results. However, the study setup was similar to many UX research studies in which participants are asked to consider scenarios and express a preference.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s hard to draw conclusions about design elements.<\/strong> While we noticed certain manipulations to design elements (e.g., reducing the vibrancy of the color and increasing size) led to changes in preferences, it\u2019s hard to draw generalizable conclusions from this study about recommended or not recommended design choices. Future work can examine this more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of these things is not like the other. That\u2019s the theme of a segment on the long-running US TV show Sesame Street. As children, we learn to identify similarities and differences. And after seeing a group of things that look similar, we tend to remember the differences. Why? 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