The document discusses the complexities of pattern recognition and its implications in various fields, highlighting how misinterpretations can lead to biases and incorrect conclusions. It emphasizes the limitations of categorical thinking and advocates for flexible categorization and recognition of nuances in complex information. Solutions include using spectrums for greater accuracy, promoting communication across disciplines, and maintaining awareness of biases to enhance understanding.

1. Mismatched
What’s wrong with the way we recognize patterns?
Robert Stribley
Associate Experience Director, Razorfish
#patterns

2. How many political parties are there in the United
States?

3. How many political parties are there in the United
States?
How many colors are there?
How many genders are there?
How many forms of sexual orientation are there?
How many races are there?
How many states are there?

4. We’re poor tolerators of
ambiguity

5. We live in an incredibly complex environment
We’re constantly bombarded by stimuli
How do we process all this information?

6. Pattern Recognition
The ability to identify
familiar forms within
a complex
arrangement of
sensory stimuli
Butterfly on the New York City Highline

7. Butterflies Labeled by Species

8. Some examples of pattern recognition

9. Scientists note patterns in attempts to understand the natural world

10. Facebook recognizes faces and even suggests names

11. Researchers use Twitter to track and forecast flu outbreaks

12. The games we play invariably require pattern recognition

13. We can recognize when one game design is based on another
November 2010
November 2010
April 2012
April 2012

14. Or when one design has likely influenced another

15. We can recognize when designs follow trends

16. Pattern recognition helps us recognize the same person,
despite changes to their appearance over time.

17. We might see people and conclude they look alike,
which can lead to cases of mistaken identity

18. Bees mistake flowers for sexual partners

19. But humans wouldn’t mistake a facsimile for the real thing like
that, would we?

20. So recognizing patterns is
tremendously useful.
But sometimes in seeing patterns,
we arrive at conclusions, which
aren’t correct.

21. Just a few of the problems we encounter
when recognizing patterns:
•Apophenia
•Pareidolia
•Post hoc ergo propter hoc
•Confirmation bias, selection bias
•Binary thinking
•Tribalism
•Categorical thinking

22. Categorical thinking?
What’s wrong with categorical
thinking?

23. Robert
Sapolsky
Professor of Biology,
Neurology, Neurological
Sciences, Neurosurgery,
Stanford University

24. “We think in categories. We take
things that are in continua and we
break them into categories. And
we label those categories. And we
do that in various settings because
it could be extremely useful.”
– Sapolsky
UX people: Think card sort, think taxonomy, think site map

25. "Fall into categorical thinking and
you can do unspeakable damage
in the realm of science that
makes difference."
– Sapolsky
*and in life and in design

26. 1. Focus on categories and we
can overlook distinctions
within categories.

28. 2. Focus on boundaries and we
can overlook similarities
between items.

29. Man V. Ape
Focus on differences between species and you may overlook many obvious similarities

30. Color Spectrum

31. 3. Focus on boundaries and
we can miss the big
picture.
All we see are categories.

32. cho-pho-use

33. chophouse

34. What are some solutions?

35. 1.
Spectrums can be more accurate
than limited categories.

36. Alfred Kinsey

37. Human Sexuality and the Kinsey scale

38. Prof. Michael Storms – The Storms Model

39. Takeaway:
Spectrums offer more nuance.
But beware of artificial boundaries
within a spectrum, too.

40. 2.
It’s OK to classify things in multiple
categories.

42. Employ flexible categorization
systems
1.Flexible taxonomies
2.Crowd-sourced tagging
3.Machine-based tagging

43. Takeaway:
Recognize and highlight
connections between things in
different categories

44. 3.
Stay alert to field bias to see the
full picture

45. • We tend to categorize in ways which
reflect our training or background
• A biologist, a geneticist, and an
endocrinologist might answer the same
question in different ways
• They present categorical solutions which
reflect their language and cultural
differences

47. We encounter the same issue
when working with different
departments within an
organization

48. Takeaway:
Encourage communication among
departments, between users and
stakeholders.

49. • We can’t operate as human beings without
recognizing patterns.
• Categorization can be a helpful thing.
• Until it isn’t. Then it can be damaging.
• Or it can make information difficult to process
and navigate.
• So approach recognizing patterns with nuance.

50. Enjoy ambiguity

51. Thank you
Robert Stribley
@stribs
This presentation on Slideshare: www.slideshare.com/stribs
My tumblr about pattern recognition: stribs.tumblr.com

52. For Further Study
•Biology & Human Behavior: The Neurological Origins of Individuality
– Professor Robert Sapolsky, The Great Courses
•Chaos – James Gleick
•First Principle: Disambiguation – Rachel Lovinger, Contents
Magazine
•Stochasticity – Radio Lab, WNYC, Season 6, Episode 1
Special thanks to Amy Stack, Rachel Lovinger and Jason Scott for their
feedback on this presentation.
Dedicated to my wife, Amy Stack.