Universal Principles of Design, Revised and Updated

Picture Superiority Effect

Pictures are remembered better than words.1

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words, and it turns out that in most cases, this is true. Pictures are generally more easily recognized and recalled than words, although memory for pictures and words together is superior to memory for words alone or pictures alone. For example, instructional materials and technical manuals that present textual information accompanied by supporting pictures enable information recall that is better than that produced by either the text or pictures alone. The picture superiority effect is commonly used in instructional design, advertising, technical writing, and other design contexts requiring easy and accurate recall of information. ...