The Role of Psychological Principles in Effective UI/UX Design

by Daniel Raymond · July 30, 2024

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Psychological principles play a crucial role in creating attractive and user-friendly interfaces. Site structure, content, animations, and colors are all connected by a single logic of psychological laws that influence perception and emotions, and ultimately affect user behavior on websites. When examining the challenges faced by most clients seeking assistance from Dworkz, UI design firm in San Francisco, the common denominator is a lack of understanding by companies of the psychology of their customers: their motivations, cognitive processes, triggers, and expectations.

Table of Contents

Consider why some websites on the same topic attract visitors while others don’t. The common mistake most web designers make is simple to the point of banality: they focus solely on visual appeal, ignoring psychological aspects. What businesses pay for this mistake is that they miss out on about 3/4 of their profits. Proof: According to a Stanford University study, 75% of users judge a company’s trustworthiness by the design of its website. If users feel a site is untrustworthy or difficult to navigate, they are less likely to make a conversion – that’s just on one metric: the conversion. “Design is not only how a product looks, but how it works.” – Steve Jobs. Whether you have an online presence or work as a UI/UX designer, understanding the role of psychology in web design is crucial. Join us as we delve into this topic!

The Law of Simplicity and Joy

No matter how rational people are, the true measure of usefulness or effectiveness lies in emotion. Simplicity and pleasure underlie the most complex reasoning. As American physicist Richard Feynman said, “If you can’t explain a complex subject in simple terms, you don’t know it”. This also applies to evaluating UI/UX design: the simpler the design, the more fun it will be for visitors to web resources unless your job is to avoid complicating the already complex lives of your customers.

To cut to the chase, it is best summarized by John Maeda, a famous designer and computer scientist: ‘Simplicity is an art, not merely the absence of complexity.’ When applied to UI/UX design, the psychological principle of simplicity and joy encompasses two critical aspects (borrowed from top UI design firms based in San Francisco):

Minimalism. Its logic is that there is no need to complicate the solution of problems if you can do it more simply. Simplicity usually means efficiency and saving resources – time, money, and mental effort.

Positive emotions. These stem from the realization of the first point. The inner logic is as follows: The human psyche tends to enjoy pleasure and avoid displeasure unless the latter is the realization of the individual’s desire to reproduce traumatic experiences (suggested by Sigmund Freud). A healthy psychological person reads bad emotions as a red light at a traffic light – forbidden, not allowed! Positive emotions, correspondingly, as green color – it works, practical, understandable, encouraging and so on.

When it comes to websites, in the pursuit of creativity, designers overcomplicate their interfaces with details, dynamics, and inconsistent structure. Based on the experiences of our fellow designers at Dworkz, this complexity in UI/UX design typically arises from a lack of understanding of user experience principles. Another reason is a focus on aesthetics at the expense of usability. The cumulative effect of all these mistakes is that users feel like they are losing control of interacting with the product. For example, unclear navigation buttons cause a potential customer to feel confused and rejected; he or she may stop understanding or even forget what he or she is looking for on the site (UX Academy).

The Law of Expectations

“The best interface is the one you don’t notice.”—Douglas Adams. In the user’s language, this means that when he goes from one page to another, presumably on the same subject, he should feel familiar with each one: the menu, content structure, activity buttons, feedback—all this should be familiar to him. Violation of the usual order of things can cause negative emotions.

But how to stand out from the competition through creativity, uniqueness, and innovation? In the language of the UI/UX designer, there is a dialectical problem due to the user’s expectations formed from previous experiences: using non-unique means of UI/UX design to present the user with a unique user experience. There are two solutions from the already familiar UI design firm headquartered in San Francisco:

Standards and patterns

At the core, standards and familiar patterns of user behavior on web resources should be followed: simplicity, clarity, navigability, responsiveness, accessibility (three clicks), and consistency (providing a consistent user experience across devices and platforms).

Innovation

The underlying premise is that too strict adherence to standards can lead to banality: often, if not always, innovation requires a departure from standards. The following criteria can give you a frame of reference for the arcane user experience:

Deep understanding of your target audience: Needs, preferences, and behavioral patterns help you build a portrait of a potential customer with whom your product will resonate deeply.
Innovative use of standard elements: It’s about creatively interpreting the familiar web environment for the user. In this aspect, perfection is not a limit.
Focus on micro-interactions: Animations, transitions, reactions to the user’s action – these small details make a big difference: he/she, the customers, feel they matter.
Personalization: Choosing a color scheme, positioning elements, and adapting to the screens and operating environments of different devices are ways new tools can appeal to the customer’s previous experience.
Surprises: People love surprises – this appeals to the child and every adult. Areas such as commerce, finance, or security completely disregard this criterion of website development.

Regardless of your chosen approach, user feedback tests the strength of your adherence to standards and the application of innovation. Continuously testing your design is a never-ending process that helps identify the unique aspects that work best. For more insights on the relationship between human behavior, design choices, and user perception, explore UX Magazine.

Closing

Psychology plays an integral role in successful UI/UX design. It’s akin to relationships – whether friendships, family bonds, or work teams: paying attention to each other’s peculiarities gives us value, trust – and psychological comfort. This, in turn, opens the user to accepting innovation – be it new products, services, or ideas. Following specific patterns, designers should take into account psychological aspects when creating interfaces with the help of innovative solutions. Prioritizing simplicity, enjoyment, and meeting expectations ensures a great UX that balances familiarity with fresh experiences. Go for it!