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Psychology in Design: How It Helps UX Designers
Fast and slow thinking systems
Psychological patterns in interface taiwan phone number lookup design
Hick's Law
Jacob's Law
Doherty Threshold
Fitts' Law
Zeigarnik effect
Usability aesthetics
Gestalt laws of grouping
Fast and slow thinking systems
German neurobiologists have discovered that the human brain strives to conserve its resources, trying to perform most processes automatically. This is the most rational way of its life. Otherwise, the brain, which makes up about 2% of the total body weight, could take up to 30% of all oxygen entering the body for its work, which, ultimately, would negatively affect the survival of humans as a biological species.
How does this information help a designer? Very simple. At the moment when a user gets to a new resource, amazing processes occur in his brain. Multimillion neurons start working: they are the ones that react to external stimuli. First of all, they try to link the new experience with the one that was received in the past, and as a result of such a comparison, they give a subconscious reaction.
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If the site interface is intuitively understandable to the user, contains familiar patterns, then as a result he spends a minimum of energy on orientation activities. But that's not all. With a high degree of probability, it can be said that a person will form a positive image of the resource he visited.
Psychology in design helps to take into account many nuances. Each experience we receive involves not only thinking and leaves not only a trace in the subconscious, but also evokes certain feelings. In other words, perception can be emotional and include three stages:
Intuitive. Interaction with a new object has not yet occurred, but a person has some expectation about it. It is formed with the help of game techniques, intriguing descriptions, beautiful slogans, etc. Often, it is at the intuitive stage that “love at first sight” occurs, which subsequently affects a person’s perception. He will “close his eyes” to minor flaws and errors, continuing to use the product he likes.
Behavioural. At this stage, a person already directly interacts with the product, learns its functionality and performance, evaluates usability, and experiences certain emotional reactions.
Reflexive. The user is left with certain impressions and experiences from interacting with the product, which will subsequently influence whether he wants to return to the resource or, on the contrary, avoid it.
UX design is constantly being explored to create more convenient and interesting websites and applications for users. For example, in 2012, digital products were rated on YouTube. Javier Bargas-Avila , a UX design specialist, calculated that a user needs no more than 50 milliseconds to get acquainted with a digital product and form an impression of it. This is simply an incredible amount of time in which to evoke positive emotions in a person. Is this task really feasible?
In the book by Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman "Thinking, Fast and Slow" he talks about two systems of thinking: active and reactive. The active system starts working when a rational approach is required. In search of the right model of behavior, we compare, sort, look for suitable options, etc. In the process of such intensive mental activity, a lot of resources are spent. The reactive system is based on instincts, so it turns on automatically.
Interaction with the product requires a certain amount of energy resources from the user, which designers want to reduce to a minimum, that is, to launch a second, instinctive, system of thinking in a person. Knowledge of psychological laws helps them with this.
Psychological patterns in interface design
Hick's Law
In 1952, William Hick and Ray Hymon proposed a law that states: a person makes a decision faster in a situation with fewer options. It turns out that designers only need to reduce the number of elements, and everyone will be happy. However, this is not always possible.
For example, a user visits a marketplace website that has thousands of offers. The simplest solution is to group products into categories. If a user is looking for a winter jacket, he will first select the top-level section - "Clothing". Then he will decide on the category - "Outerwear", then he will select the gender, season, size, and so on. It turns out that the website interface helps the user make a choice as quickly as possible. This is how psychology works in design.
Jacob's Law
When a user gets to a new resource, he expects it to be similar (at least in structure) to those he has visited before. For example, on most online store sites, the "Cart" button is located in the upper right corner, and the cards with product descriptions on different resources are almost identical. To make it easier for the user to navigate the site, it is necessary to get rid of all unusual elements.
Doherty Threshold
UX design should also think through and calculate the response time of the system. Most users prefer a “smart” interface that instantly reacts to their actions. Usually, the threshold is 0.4 seconds – this is the time it takes our brain to react to an irritant. The user should receive feedback from the site at least as fast, but ideally – even faster. Otherwise, the potential buyer, having lost interest, will go to other resources.
Fitts' Law