Nerve Damage, Comprehension, and Content | Contents Magazine

February 17, 2012

content strategy / user experience

> The brief neuroanatomy lesson supports my first principle. While the “whats” (detail oriented content, messages, etc.) are important to a user, content they can connect with on an emotional/behavioral level (“hows” and “whys”) is what drives deeper comprehension because it connects to the area of the brain that defines our behavioral context. When we have content that addresses these behavioral factors, we stimulate the parts of the brain that create memory and ultimately make us able to truly comprehend something. When we have that, we have the potential to influence things like favorability, consideration, satisfaction, and even loyalty. What that should tell you, my fellow lovers of content, is that the most effective strategy leads to work that speaks bi-directionally—to both the rational and emotional parts of our brain. If we only believe that retention happens when we present our case for a product, service, organization, etc., we’re assuming that the spatial/language-based portion of our brain governs our decision making process. Fact is, it just doesn’t have the final say.