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...