14 of 365 – Classic conditioning design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Classical conditioning is a method by which a subject, object, idea or action is associated with an emotional or bodily response in the mind of an observer. The most famous example of classical conditioning is Pavlov’s dogs that began to salivate when their trainers arrived, even when food was not present, because the dogs associated their presence with being fed. Designers can do the same thing over time with associations in their designs, such as a beautiful girl and a soda, or negatively influence observers with skulls and crossbones on cigarette boxes. Classical conditioning can influence the behavior of observers who believe an action or image that works to associate an idea with an emotional response.
In this illustration, I have personified the idea of software, and asked observers to believe that one classification of software, open source, treats you well, and another classification of software, proprietary, does not. This is a true story.
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