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Your brain has been tricked, and it’s loving it
Is Design a game of subtle manipulation and beautiful lies? Do designers not just make things work but also make you believe?
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Have you ever wondered how brands entice you to spend $7 on coffee, wait six months for a premium bag, and feel clever? Does good design deceive you into feeling in control and also allows you to appreciate the deception?
The human brain operates on two key elements: dopamine (WANT), which is the impulsive thrill of achieving something, and cognitive ease (LAZY), which is the satisfaction of not overthinking. Congratulations- you wield influence over people if your business can harness these two forces. That’s brainwashing with flair, and it’s effective. Designers don’t just make things look nice. They manipulate reality.
Here’s how they do it.
1. Make people lazy because thinking is painful.
Don’t you think every invention that has made billions has minimized effort? The easier life becomes, the quicker people throw money at you. No one wants to do more work than necessary. Walking to a store takes a lot of effort. People pay extra to avoid cooking (DoorDash, Grubhub), walking (escalators), and interacting with others…