So much for the rules being present in the design, so we can instantly appreciate them rather than having to make deductions. The next part I want to explore is how we perceive those rules in the first place.
This is the psychology bit.
I guess the first thing I have to introduce is how we perceive the world around us. It’s not like using a computer and deciding what to click on. The world isn’t like that. It’s not step-by-step where each step is examine, think about what you see, select that bit and that bit as the important bits, finally make a move, then start examining again.
We move continuously, fluidly, taking in huge amounts of information by our senses all the while. We’re guided by everything, but we’re aware of only a small amount at a time, throwing most of this information away—and we’re engaged, or focused, on only one or two things at a time.
That’s because we only have a limited amount of brain power to go round. You have to choose whether to focus on this presentation, or what to do tonight, or the phone vibrating in your pocket. We call this limited amount of brain power, “attention.” Giving something attention is the feeling of giving more of our brain to it.