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I have no clue what she based it on, but my fourth grade teacher demanded that her students' booths at the school science fair be positioned so that they were

by jsm386 16y ago

I have no clue what she based it on, but my fourth grade teacher demanded that her students' booths at the school science fair be positioned so that they were to your left when you walked into the gymnasium. "People look to their left first and they'll look at your projects first." Did she have any basis for this?

potatolicious 16y ago
Not as far as I know. (Western language speaking) People do tend to read from left to right (and up-to-down), but there's no evidence to suggest that this applies to non-linguistic things, especially as basic as the way they look when they enter a room. I had the pleasure of some industrial ergonomics/design courses in college, and IMHO web designers would be wise to look at the decades of research that have gone into that field. Much of it remains relevant even in software/web UI.
- petercooper 16y ago
  there's no evidence to suggest that this applies to non-linguistic things That seemed odd to me just going off (less than scientific) bits and pieces I've read over the years, especially relating to retail design where a popular adage is that "people tend to walk to the right upon entering a store" (so that's where you put the more expensive goodies). But a cliché isn't evidence. So I thought I'd look for stronger citations. And man, it's tough. I haven't found anything on the retail thing yet but there seems to be evidence of preferences for one direction over another in studies. For example: http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2006/12/satisfaction-guaranteed.html http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2006/12/satisfaction... Reading direction appears to have an influence on the ease with which items are detected in different hemispheres: http://pss.sagepub.com/content/16/1/15.abstract http://pss.sagepub.com/content/16/1/15.abstract (and sort of related: http://pss.sagepub.com/content/18/6/487.abstract http://pss.sagepub.com/content/18/6/487.abstract)
nitrogen 16y ago
It's possible that adults with US driver's licenses, having been trained to look left first, then right, when crossing traffic, may do so in pedestrian situations as well (such as entering a crowded gymnasium).
- tokenadult 16y ago
  I almost got run over by a truck once after looking the wrong way last when crossing a street in Hong Kong. People do have systematic habits shaped by their culture as to looking left first or looking right first, but maybe that is most influenced, as you suggest, by which side of the street drivers drive on.

by jsm386 16y ago

potatolicious 16y ago

Not as far as I know. (Western language speaking) People do tend to read from left to right (and up-to-down), but there's no evidence to suggest that this applies to non-linguistic things, especially as basic as the way they look when they enter a room. I had the pleasure of some industrial ergonomics/design courses in college, and IMHO web designers would be wise to look at the decades of research that have gone into that field. Much of it remains relevant even in software/web UI.

petercooper 16y ago
there's no evidence to suggest that this applies to non-linguistic things That seemed odd to me just going off (less than scientific) bits and pieces I've read over the years, especially relating to retail design where a popular adage is that "people tend to walk to the right upon entering a store" (so that's where you put the more expensive goodies). But a cliché isn't evidence. So I thought I'd look for stronger citations. And man, it's tough. I haven't found anything on the retail thing yet but there seems to be evidence of preferences for one direction over another in studies. For example: http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2006/12/satisfaction-guaranteed.html http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2006/12/satisfaction... Reading direction appears to have an influence on the ease with which items are detected in different hemispheres: http://pss.sagepub.com/content/16/1/15.abstract http://pss.sagepub.com/content/16/1/15.abstract (and sort of related: http://pss.sagepub.com/content/18/6/487.abstract http://pss.sagepub.com/content/18/6/487.abstract)

nitrogen 16y ago

It's possible that adults with US driver's licenses, having been trained to look left first, then right, when crossing traffic, may do so in pedestrian situations as well (such as entering a crowded gymnasium).

tokenadult 16y ago
I almost got run over by a truck once after looking the wrong way last when crossing a street in Hong Kong. People do have systematic habits shaped by their culture as to looking left first or looking right first, but maybe that is most influenced, as you suggest, by which side of the street drivers drive on.