The impact of relevancy and unexpectedness on the communication effect of design

When the human brain receives information that contradicts preconceived ideas and concepts, the new information would be compared with the preconceived knowledge, during which a schema would be used as a framework to determine the relevancy of the new information. Based on the cognitive framework schema, Stafford and Walker (1996) conducted a study on the interplay between schema and consistently inconsistent information. They found that information of moderate inconsistency tends to trigger the interest of information receivers, and in turn, has better communication effect. The definition of moderate inconsistency is that the overall representation of a design is inconsistent with the receiver's schema or unexpected to the receiver, yet the constituent elements of the design are relevant. In the pursuit of a design that has good communication effect, this study first conducted a "preliminary survey", which required 11 subjects to determine moderately inconsistent design samples that possessed the characteristics of "unexpectedness" and "relevancy" from some award-winning design artworks. Afterwards, these sample artworks were placed into three categories: high, medium, and low groups of relevancy, as based on the relevancy of these artworks' design elements (products, graphics, verbal descriptions, etc.). Then, a survey on communication effect was conducted to probe into the impact of relevancy on communication effect. A total of 120 subjects participated. The questionnaire content included five scales: comprehension, interest, impression, affection, and novelty. The measurement was based on a 5-point Likert scale (Likert, 1932). The results indicated that there is a corresponding relationship between the unexpectedness of the overall design that constitutes moderate inconsistency and relevancy, which is a constituent element of designs. Moreover, a higher relevancy of constituent elements, such as graphics, verbal descriptions, and products, means a better effect in enhancing a design's comprehensibility. Meanwhile, a comprehensible design can better facilitate the design's communication effects. In