The Verbatim Effect

It’s that time of the week where I sit down and give a high level overview of a psychological phenomenon.

This week I’ll be breaking down the verbatim effect and why it matters in the world of design.

What is it

It might come as no surprise but humans are pretty poor historians and aren’t the most accurate when it comes to recalling experiences and facts. Cognitive scientists have observed people’s tendencies to only remember the gist of a situation more than the details and named it the verbatim effect.

Essentially, people are more likely to remember the core of the experience rather than the details of the experience itself. This means that whether your message is long or short people are more likely to just remember the key message.

Why it matters

When designing for the optimal user experience we want to be mindful of users wants and needs while also being aware of innate biases. Knowing that your users will most likely not remember the lengthy descriptors and details means that you can focus on crafting short, powerful attention grabbers that clearly relay the underlying message.

At the end of the day keeping it simple and to the point will make sure your users are walking away knowing the core meaning of the information you’ve provided them. While you may have a ton you want to tell users it’s actually more helpful to boil down what the key story is and crafting it in as simple of terms as possible so you know that users are remembering the gist as you intend it.

The Gist

Keep it concise so your users stay engaged and walk away knowing the main message.