100 Things: Every Designer Needs to Know About People

64. People are Hard-Wired for Imitation and Empathy

If you put your face right in front of a baby and stick out your tongue, the baby will stick out his or her tongue, too. This happens from a very young age, even as young as a month old. So what does this have to do with anything? It’s an example of our built-in, wired-into-the-brain capacity for imitation. Recent research on the brain shows how our imitative behavior works; and in your design you can use this knowledge to influence behavior.

Mirror Neurons Firing

The front of the brain contains an area called the premotor cortex (motor, as in movement). This is not the part of the brain that actually sends out the signals that make you move. That part of the brain is the primary motor cortex. ...