Blue Cars, Robots, and How Your Brain Chooses to See
I distinctly remember this anecdote from my childhood. When it finally came time to upgrade our family car to a new model, I was assigned what was arguably the most important role in the decision-making process: picking the color. To my family’s horror, I chose a strange, never-seen-before, rare sea blue. In desperate attempts to defend my selection, I made a conscious effort to draw their attention to every blue car of the same precise shade that we encountered on the road.
What surprised my family (and honestly myself) was that there were so many of them! It seemed every third car on the road was suddenly that color. This rare shade had suddenly transformed into a ubiquitous one. Annoyed but convinced, my family gave up and bought that same color car.
Teenage me 1, family 0.
But wait a second—did the number of weird blue cars really just miraculously increase on the road? Or was it just me finally noticing them?
This is what behavioral scientists call top-down attention. I was looking specifically for blue cars, and so my brain consciously directed my vision to spot any cars of that shade on the road.
If there's top-down attention, then surely there must be a bottom-up. After all, what goes up must come down, right?
Here’s an example. The other day, I was in a mall with my toddler. He screamed “ROBOTTTTT” and pulled me away from my set path toward a very crowded part of the mall that I would have avoided under any other circumstance. I looked up and saw there was a huge transformer robot installation at the entrance of a toy store and that seemed to have caught his attention—exactly as it was meant to.
That, my friends, is a classic example of bottom-up attention. We weren’t specifically looking for robots, but a giant one suddenly made us take notice.
Understanding how our brains filter what we see and focus on can be a game-changer—especially for designers and product managers, trying to create a product that sticks. After all, attention is everything when it comes to user experience. In this article, we'll explore how top-down and bottom-up mechanisms interact with each other when users land on a screen, helping them decide what to notice and what to ignore. We will also discuss the relevance of this for product professionals and how they can use this knowledge to design better.
Diving into the Science of Attention
Think of it like this. Your senses capture so many things in just one moment, leaving your brain with the complex task of processing it all. We need a blueprint of sorts to figure out where to pay attention and what to actually look at. That’s where attentional mechanisms come into play.
Bottom-up mechanisms work based on salience. They automatically select objects that stand out: bright colors, something big, something new. Beyond an unexpectedly large robot in the mall, some examples of bottom-up attention in the design world include a banner on a website, pop-ups, ads, shimmers, calls to action, and so on.1 This term implies that attention is triggered by raw sensory data, which feeds “up” into the cognitive system and prompts a shift in focus—hence, why it is called bottom-up.
Top-down mechanisms, on the other hand, draw on our knowledge and goals. They help us intentionally locate what we want—like, for instance, the blue car I was looking for, the burger I am craving, a romantic comedy I want to watch, and more specifically in the digital realm, the search bar that can help me navigate the page. The name top-down comes from the idea that "higher" levels of cognition, such as decision-making or planning, direct lower sensory processes.
Psychologists have debated for a long time how these two mechanisms—bottom-up and top-down attention—co-exist and work together. While some believe that they work sequentially (one after the other), others argue they function completely independently of each other. Even within sequential processing, psychologists and neuroscientists still disagree on which type of processing happens first.
One study demonstrated that while bottom-up attention alerts us to salient items in our environment, top-down attention directs bottom-up to look at what we need to. Using different visual cues in experimental setups, the study showed that the requirement of the task often directs involuntary attention shifts, and hence, is actually contingent on the subconscious mind’s top-down targeting. So, according to this research, top-down attention sequentially happens first, and then bottom-up.2
But not everyone agrees. There could be contexts where the order might actually be reversed. Let’s say there is a swarm of green circles on the screen and you have been asked to find the lone red circle in the image. How can we determine if this is bottom-up attention at work (since you might spot what stands out) or top-down attention coming into play (since you have been tasked to find the red circle)?3
Neuroscience-based studies testing scenarios such as the one above suggest that it’s bottom-up processing that sweeps the scene first, regardless of the situation, which is then followed by some guidance from a top-down mechanism to land on the object.3
As you can see, these attention processes are pretty complex and context-dependent, and we don't have all the answers yet. But whether bottom-up or top-down attention kicks in first, one thing is clear: understanding how these mechanisms work is crucial for designers and product managers because when users land on your screen, both mechanisms will influence what they see and interact with your product.
Navigating Attention in Digital Design
Let’s now bring these attention mechanisms into some practical—or, let’s say digital—reality.
Let’s say you want to order takeout, with an immense craving for a good burger from a place you love.
You know exactly what you want, but when you open the food delivery app, a lot of stimuli grab your attention all at once, including...
- Exciting images of other delicious options that you didn’t know you wanted
- Tempting offers and discounts splashed in large fonts
- Callouts advertising special offers for free delivery
- Promotion of new features like, Try group ordering, or, Check out our newest release
Somehow, amidst the chaos, you need to find your way to a search bar so you can find your delicious burger. In other words, your top-down attention must try to seize back control and direct your bottom-up attention to ignore everything just so you can place your order.
It’s already hard enough when you have your desired meal in mind… but how about when you don’t know what you want?
You open the app to explore some options and the same exact stimuli grab your attention as before:
- Exciting images of other delicious options that you didn’t know you wanted
- Tempting offers and discounts splashed in large fonts
- Callouts advertising special offers for free delivery
- Promotion of new features like, Try group ordering, or, Check out our newest release
Once again, amidst the chaos, you need to make a decision. This time around, your bottom-up attention is screaming for help. What should I look at? Help me, top-down attention!
Now expand this to every app you have ever used.
What happens, for example, when you open Netflix? There are different ways to filter trending movies and top shows simply “because you watched” something. And yet, you might find yourself endlessly scrolling to find that one classic hit to watch instead. This happens because top-down elements, like your intention to watch something specific, and bottom-up elements, like attention-grabbing thumbnails and recommendations, are in constant tug-of-war. Each one competes for your focus, making it harder to cut through the noise and make a choice.
We often talk about the choice paradox in these contexts—or in other words, giving too much choice to users, leading them to more indecision. While this is very important, we often forget to talk about what happens before we even get the chance to make a choice. It’s the stimuli that hit them! Just as we saw in the example of how complex ordering a simple burger can get, we know now that managing top-down and bottom-up attention, while navigating these stimuli is not easy for users. This begs the question: how can we guide users at this stage?
Balance is Key
From a marketing standpoint, ads, banners, and strong stimuli are important. Moreover, all of the current research supports that images are crucial to aid decision-making.4 So, visual cues are not going anywhere—which leaves us with one option: improving them.
How can we achieve this?
Well, as with most things in life, balance is key—just like in Kung Fu Panda, when Master Shifu teaches Po the importance of harmony. Whether it's mastering inner peace or balancing top-down and bottom-up attention, finding that equilibrium is the true path to success.
As designers and creators of products, it's our duty and responsibility to understand just how complex sensory processing is and how hard it can be when we throw so much at a user. We have to keep how their minds work in our minds and design in such a way that we are aiding both types of processing. We don’t know what intention a user opens the app with. So, it is important that we cover both in our design, so that irrespective of what the user chooses to do, we are supporting them and not overwhelming them.
Here are four ideas to get you started:
- UI elements that are clearly top-down and attention-focused should get high salience. Examples include search bars, reordering options from previous orders, and categorizations.
- Stimuli-led bottom-up elements deserve a place, too, for you never know when a user is browsing for just the thing that will catch their attention. Just make sure that harmony exists. For instance, a banner ad that inspires a user is great, but a pop-up that stops the user's journey is too much.
- When a user's intent is clear, don’t spew bottom-up elements in the line of vision and take them away from their happy journey. Not only does it annoy the user, but it probably also hurts your business. Think of the empty space on the Google home page as a stellar example of this in action.
- …but sometimes, a bottom-up stimulus might spark inspiration and lead them to look for something specific. For instance, spotting a flash of a tropical beach on the homepage might remind a user of a trip they’ve wanted to book. Now, they’re ready to search for travel deals or plan a getaway. Make it easy for them to seamlessly shift into a top-down journey, guided by their specific goal.
There are, of course, more nuances to this. The processing on an e-commerce site, for instance, is very different from a grocery-buying journey or a food delivery journey. But across the board, as designers and creators, our job is to strike the perfect balance between guiding users and giving them space to discover on their own. By understanding how top-down and bottom-up attention work together, we can create experiences that feel seamless rather than overwhelming. When a user knows exactly what they want, our designs should let them get there effortlessly. But when they're exploring, we need to offer just the right nudges to inspire their curiosity.
Ultimately, much like my teenage self pointing out every blue car on the road or the huge robot that my toddler spotted, our users will notice what we make salient to them—whether it’s consciously or unconsciously. It’s up to us to guide that attention thoughtfully, ensuring that what stands out enhances their journey, rather than distracting them from it.
So, while I might not be on the hunt for blue cars anymore, I’ve learned to pay attention to what matters—and in design, helping users do the same is where the real magic happens.
References
- Sobel, K. V., Gerrie, M. P., Poole, B. J., & Kane, M. J. (2007). Individual differences in working memory capacity and visual search: The roles of top-down and bottom-up processing. Psychonomic bulletin & review, 14, 840-845.
- Folk, C. L., Remington, R. W., & Johnston, J. C. (1992). Involuntary covert orienting is contingent on attentional control settings. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human perception and performance, 18(4), 1030
- Connor, C. E., Egeth, H. E., & Yantis, S. (2004). Visual attention: bottom-up versus top-down. Current biology, 14(19), R850-R852.
- Lurie, N. H., & Mason, C. H. (2007). Visual representation: Implications for decision making. Journal of marketing, 71(1), 160-177.
About the Author
Preeti Kotamarthi
Preeti Kotamarthi has built and led Behavioral Science teams at two of the largest tech companies in Southeast Asia and India. She established the Behavioral Science practice at Grab, helping product and design teams understand customer behavior to create better user experiences. Currently, she heads Behavioral Science and User Research at Swiggy, where she continues to blend data, design, and human insights—drawing inspiration from spending a lot of time with Indian consumers. With a Masters in Behavioral Science from the London School of Economics and an MBA in Marketing from FMS Delhi, Preeti brings over 12 years of experience in consumer products, from co-founding a rural startup in India to shaping behavioral design in tech. Her passion lies in making behavioral science a core part of the product development process. When she’s not uncovering human insights at work, she’s likely busy applying behavioral lessons on her two-year-old.
About us
We are the leading applied research & innovation consultancy
Our insights are leveraged by the most ambitious organizations
“
I was blown away with their application and translation of behavioral science into practice. They took a very complex ecosystem and created a series of interventions using an innovative mix of the latest research and creative client co-creation. I was so impressed at the final product they created, which was hugely comprehensive despite the large scope of the client being of the world's most far-reaching and best known consumer brands. I'm excited to see what we can create together in the future.
Heather McKee
BEHAVIORAL SCIENTIST
GLOBAL COFFEEHOUSE CHAIN PROJECT
OUR CLIENT SUCCESS
$0M
Annual Revenue Increase
By launching a behavioral science practice at the core of the organization, we helped one of the largest insurers in North America realize $30M increase in annual revenue.
0%
Increase in Monthly Users
By redesigning North America's first national digital platform for mental health, we achieved a 52% lift in monthly users and an 83% improvement on clinical assessment.
0%
Reduction In Design Time
By designing a new process and getting buy-in from the C-Suite team, we helped one of the largest smartphone manufacturers in the world reduce software design time by 75%.
0%
Reduction in Client Drop-Off
By implementing targeted nudges based on proactive interventions, we reduced drop-off rates for 450,000 clients belonging to USA's oldest debt consolidation organizations by 46%
