Picture Superiority Effect
People remember what they saw far better than what they read.
What it is
Images are encoded twice, as a picture and as a label, which makes them stick. A concept paired with an image is recalled at multiple times the rate of the same concept as text. Icons, screenshots, diagrams and photographs are memory aids, not decoration, provided each one carries a specific meaning.
The research
Participants recognised previously seen pictures at rates well above 90% days later, far exceeding recognition of words presented the same way.
Shepard, 1967; Paivio, 1971
How to use it
Screenshot the result
A dashboard showing the number is remembered. The number in a sentence is not.
One image per idea
A diagram that explains the process replaces three paragraphs and outlives them.
Related
Sources that shaped this entry: growth.design.