Don’t stop at solving problems. Evoke wonder! Recent research shows that awe is more than a feeling. It’s a cognitive reset. It widens perception, opens people to novelty, and deepens emotional attachment. For product makers, that means your job doesn’t end at making something work. You’ve got to make it dazzle. Think of the first time you unboxed an iPhone and the screen seemed to “come to life” to greet you in a variety of languages. Or the shimmer of a color-shifting finish that makes you...
4 days ago • 1 min read
Before a buyer reads the label, they’ve already judged your product by touch. A new design study confirms what great makers have always felt intuitively: the visual–tactile properties of materials significantly shape product appeal. Even when two objects look identical, one that feels slightly more substantial or textured is consistently rated higher in quality and value. That’s because the brain treats touch as a shortcut for trust. Smooth becomes “refined.”Weight becomes “worth.”Softness...
5 days ago • 1 min read
Your brand only has two seconds to earn a glance. On a good day. A new deep-learning study on visual attention in packaging found that logo placement, orientation, and even nearby faces dramatically impact whether a brand registers in the first glance. And that moment matters: research shows 81 % of purchase decisions for new products are influenced by packaging design, and 72 % of shoppers admit it sways them. From a cognitive angle, shoppers scan shelves on autopilot. But heir attention...
6 days ago • 1 min read
With endless buzzes, chimes and beeps, haptics can carry meaning — if you let them. If you felt your phone rumble like a Formula One racer from this summer’s F1 haptic movie trailer, you know how powerful touch can be. The subtle vibration synced with the growl of the engines. Like being trackside, you don’t just only the speed, you feel it. That’s the future of tactile storytelling. And it’s bigger than a cool effect. Researchers studying “dark haptics” have shown how vibration patterns can...
7 days ago • 1 min read
AI systems that “feel magical” can also be seen as manipulative. Recent research from Griffith University shines light on a growing issue: AI-induced consumer vulnerability: the uneasy sense people get when smart systems seem to manipulate choices or mask how things work. It’s not a power and control thing, either. Vulnerability creeps in when users don’t know why they saw a recommendation, or when they can’t override or question the system. If you build smart, connected, or personalized...
8 days ago • 1 min read
Even the biggest brands can forget to state the obvious. A few weeks ago, Lay’s announced what it called the largest brand redesign in its nearly 100-year history. The radical new changes? Warmer colors. A “sunnier” logo. A line that says: “Made with real potatoes.” (Courtesy Lay’s) What surprised me in this rebrand wasn’t the new design (aside from how it looks almost identical to the old one). It was Lay’s admission that 42% of its customers don’t know the chips are made from real,...
9 days ago • 1 min read
When we buy into a product brand, we buy membership in a story. One of the strongest emotional glues in human behavior is belonging. We invest in brands that connect us: to others, to identity, to a shared sense of care. That’s why a simple visual insignia, a recurring ritual, or even a quietly repeated phrase can hold more power than a loyalty program. Subtle cues suggesting “others like you also use this” trigger micro-belonging: a small but potent reminder that the customer is part of...
10 days ago • 1 min read
There are 60 days left in 2025. Most founders will use them to plan. The leaders will ship. As the calendar tightens, something strange happens in our brains. Deadlines stop feeling like pressure and start feeling like focus. Psychologists call it the goal gradient effect: we push harder as the finish line approaches. Time scarcity sharpens decisions, kills overthinking, and forces us to act. That’s why the end of the year is a perfect window to launch, not pause. Prospects feel the same...
11 days ago • 1 min read
The day after Halloween is always the same: too much sugar, too little clarity. Everything’s sticky, dirty costumes are on the floor, and no one completely agrees which houses gave the best candy. That’s how a big product launch can feel too. The buzz fades, normalcy returns — and suddenly, you’re left wondering, OK, what now? It’s tempting to chase the next high, but this is the moment for something better: a recalibration. Measure what actually worked. (There are ALWAYS surprises, which I...
12 days ago • 1 min read
