Blink and Think
The interplay of attention and perception
You must have heard about the “Pepsi challenge” The basic premise was to identify, what an individual prefers (Pepsi or Coke) when a blind tasting exercise is rolled out. A high percentage of people inadvertently picked up Pepsi. This prompted Coke to go back to the drawing board and launch a new version, which was simply named New Coke.
Did the New Coke succeed or not is for another time. The premise of this essay is built on the role of perception, gut feel, and the rational/irrational decision-making process.
Malcolm Gladwell, the author of Tipping Point and Blink has an insightful take on the “Pepsi Challenge,” and we all are aware of it too. :)
- Taste tests are not really the benchmark, there is always a bias for sweetness in a sip.
- Drinking a whole bottle/can is a more accurate comparison, as sweetness can get overpowering after a point.
In his book, Blink, Gladwell talks about the thinking that takes place within the “blink of an eye.” You may also term it as intuition or a gut feel, overall it is an emotional perception and usually irrational.
“It’s thinking–it’s just thinking that moves a little faster and operates a little more mysteriously than the kind of deliberate, conscious decision-making that we usually associate with thinking.”
Interplay of Attention and Perception
All of us have heard the statement, “Please pay attention.” It literally means that your attention is precious and you need to be judicial of its use. So, how do we define attention?
Think of attention as a highlighter.
Attention is a concept which is studied in psychology. It can be defined as a selective focus on some of the stimuli that we are currently perceiving while ignoring other stimuli from the environment — information trade-off.
In a visually driven world, exploring the dependence and contribution of visual perception and attention on a user’s decision-making can open many experiential and strategic doors. Let’s understand this further by exploring “perception.”
The above image is for a busy street near a school in London. The crosswalk is designed to slow down drivers. As someone approaches, each white stripe on the road looks like a 3D block. What it does is make drivers concentrate more on the road, leading to safer streets for the pedestrians.
It is basically an optical illusion, which creates a perception in the mind of driver. It forces them to keep their eyes on the road rather than being distracted by other things. So, how do we define perception?
Perception can be defined as the act or faculty of perceiving, or apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding. In simple terms, perception is the interaction between the viewer’s eyes and the viewer’s brain.
So how does this interplay work out in the decision-making process?
Daniel Kahneman, psychologist and Nobel Laureate and author of Thinking, fast and slow defines the decision-making as “System 1” and “System 2” respectively.
- the automatic, unconscious decision making that dominates our lives,
- and the much slower, rational, conscious thoughts that we mistakenly think are responsible for most of our behaviour.
“System 1” in the driver’s seat
When it comes to decision-making, perception plays a pivotal role. As we saw in the case of 3D crosswalk or the “Pepsi challenge,” the decision felt automatic and super quick. Our mind doesn’t really spend time to evaluate all the possible outcomes. Our mind is programmed with enough anecdotes based on past experiences which enables it to take automatic decisions. System 1 is responsible for 95% of our decisions.
“System 1 is highly adept in one form of thinking — it automatically and effortlessly identifies causal connections between events, sometimes even when the connection is spurious.”
One of the key challenges with System 1 is that it seeks to quickly put together a coherent, plausible story by relying on associations and memories, pattern-matching, and assumptions. I had written on a connected thread earlier highlighting the role of hindsight bias in decision-making.
Closing thoughts
Going back to the “Pepsi challenge” we can see that when more attributes get added to the mix such as the brand identity or drinking an entire bottle/can, the results would surely differ.
To illustrate this further, let’s look at the case of any health related promotion or announcements. You will find more often than not a healthcare professional coming to the fore. This is in line with appealing to the “System 1” of thinking, as it quickly builds the credibility to what is been promoted/announced.
If we look in the digital realm, irrespective of how good your product/app/website has been designed; if the perception is not managed correctly, the entire effort is an absolute waste. In essence, you are ceding control of the narrative in the hands of your user. Let’s not forget, we are talking about the “System 1” at play, which means your users are not even aware of what they have not seen or misinterpreted.
In my role as an innovation strategy consultant and the work which we do at Le Monturé Strategy, this is a constant area of exploration. Be it a research study to understand how premium consumers will interact with the consumer appliances of the future or how the efficacy of digital learning be improved for students dealing with ‘digital fatigue’ or how the information displayed on life-saving equipment in a hospital can be prioritised. The struggle is constant and real between what users see and what they perceive.
What’s your take on this? Let me know your thoughts.
Until next time!
~ Sajid
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