Redundancy has a half-life
At first, this stop sign sign makes a lot of sense:
Lives are at stake. Break the rhythm, turn something ignored into something noticed.
The challenge with “highlighting” is that it fades. When everything is in all caps, nothing is. Exclamation points are like salt.
When people are commanded to pay attention, it’s worth reminding ourselves that we’re asking for payment. That attention is scarce. And that we waste it, all the time.
When we prioritize our pattern breaks, rotate them and keep them fresh, we’re more likely to get the useful attention we need. Also…
In a free market for attention, someone is always racing to the bottom.