Home > Lensmaking Tips > Countdown to Time Well Spent

I tend to get sucked into article sites against my will. It never fails that Six Ways Malls Suck You In leads to Five Movie Moments Explained and I just can’t help but read Ten Celebrity Pairs Who Look Like They Were Separated at Birth before marking Eight Supernatural Events Explained by Science to read later.

Why is it that I can’t help be interested in top ten lists and “sixteen ways to do this” and “seven tips for that?” As humans we simply have a fascination with numbers. “How Famous Fictional Characters Annoy Us” isn’t quite that exciting. But “21 Everyday Annoyances of Famous Fictional Characters?” I’m all over that.

Why do numbered lists and countdowns work so well? It’s a psychology thing, for five big reasons.

1. Numbered lists give the perception of a limit. It isn’t “Infinite Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter” or “Lots of Habits of Highly Effective People.” Numbers give the mind a limit to wrap around and makes it easier to follow along. Ten Commandments is doable. How to Sell Your House? Eh, I have a headache just thinking about it…

2. Numbered lists infer importance. “Six things to pack” must absolutely be more important than “things to pack.” “Twelve gifts to give” must surely be more urgent than “gifts to give.” “Three reasons to get a flu shot” are definitely better than “reasons to get a flu shot.” And I bet your eyes perked up at reading “five big reasons” above.

3. Numbered lists infer quality. I can sit and tell you all day long why I love my iPhone over my former Android powered phone, but if I give you the Top Five Reasons iPhone Beats an Android, suddenly a measurable comparison of quality is inferred, even if I’m about to say “because it comes in more colors” or something equally unrelated to it’s ability to make phone calls.

4. Numbered lists are easily remembered. If you say, “Please buy eggs, bread, and milk,” your spouse is likely to get only one or two right. If you say, “We need three things: eggs, bread, milk” they will be more likely to remember. Why? Because they know there were three definite things on the list, not just whichever “few” words you happened to mention.

4.5 Holding up three fingers (as in the grocery example) or showing a relevant photo on your lens also enhances memory by combining visual and audible clues to reinforce learning. This is another reason relevant photos are so vital to a successful lens.

5. Numbered lists help readers scan text and visually separate what is important to them. Ever notice how it’s harder to read text in all caps than text in all lowercase? Our minds use letter shapes as clues to what words are, and capitalization removes recognizable word shape. (It’s also incredibly lazy.) Numbered lists create recognizable paragraph shapes that are easily interpreted as friendly collections of words, and are more likely to be read thoroughly.

How can you use all this information to build better lenses? Check back later for “Happier Holiday Lenses in Three Simple Steps”.