Raphael ThysCredit: Pexels
Last week I attended a fascinating discussion at work centered on a Harvard Business Review article titled “Great minds do not think alike” by Dr. Temple Grandin. The article’s content caught me by surprise- It discussed two different kind of thinkers: Spatials and Visuals. The discussion prompted the group to recognize which one we would identity ourselves as, and how that impacts the way we work and collaborate with others.
So, what are exactly visual and spatial thinkers?
The disctinction first emerged in 1983, when Howard Gardner introduced the theory of multiple intelligences on his book “Frames of Mind”. These cognitive perspectives not only shape how individuals perceive their environment but also influence their problem-solving approaches, learning preferences, and even career paths.
- Visual thinkers are those who, when thinking, have the ability to visualize images, symbols, objects and scenes, turning abstract concepts into mental pictures.
- Spatial visualizers, on the other hand, think by understanding abstractly the position of objects, their shapes, and their relational distances in space, often translating into a grasp of maps, charts, and spatial orientation.
So, where do you see yourself? Imagine being tasked with designing a dashboard to present a specific set of information. How does your mind tackle this problem?
It’s normal that the answer might be “it depends”. While both forms of thinking overlap, especially in fields like design, their core principles and applications differ, with visual thinkers often excelling in artistic representation and spatial thinkers in geometric and abstract concepts.
Here’s the thing: We need both of these superpowers in UX
As a UX Designer, I am definitely a visual thinker. If I’m driving while listening to an audiobook, I might miss my exit because I “see” the plot unfolding like a movie (rest…