User experience (UX) is an essential aspect in the design of digital products, as it determines how easily and pleasantly the user can interact with any interface, so let’s see how psychology plays a fundamental role in improving the user experience and corporate digital marketing performance, as it can provide interesting insights into how people perceive and react to the elements of the interfaces. Understanding certain crucial psychological aspects helps UX Designers create functional and engaging interfaces also on an emotional level.
Fundamental psychological principles in user experience design
Gestalt theory: Gestalt theory is based on the idea that the human brain tends to organize visual information into coherent and global structures, even without the support of the senses. Principles such as proximity, similarity or closure help create intuitive layouts that facilitate navigation and interaction. The proximity principle, for example, states that objects that are close to each other tend to be perceived as a group or a single unit. In other words, physical proximity between elements suggests a relationship between them. Therefore, if we are designing the UX of an e-commerce site, to improve the user experience, we can group the elements related to each product using proximity. In this way, it is easier for the user to understand that all the grouped information belongs to the same product, making navigation clearer and more intuitive.
Hick’s Law: Hick’s law states that the time it takes to make a decision increases with the number of options available. There are various studies to support the hypothesis that an excess of possibilities immobilizes and therefore makes one incapable of choosing, which translates into not being able to make a purchase in this case. If in the design of the user experience we follow this principle of psychology and reduce the number of choices by simplifying decisions, the speed with which the user completes an action (and the probability that he does so) will increase.
Zeigarnik effect: This theory suggests that people remember incomplete or interrupted tasks better. If we use this principle in the design of our UX, using progress bars or tasks to complete, we can keep users’ attention high and motivate them to complete actions.
How Design Influences Behavior
There are some elements that are fundamental in designing a UX:
Call to action (CTA): CTAs must be positioned and designed in a certain way, according to the psychology of user experience, to significantly influence behavior. Clear and visible CTAs, strategically positioned, more easily guide the user towards the desired actions.
Color and Emotion: Did you know that colors elicit the same emotions in most people? Colors in UX design do not have a purely aesthetic role, but significantly influence the emotions, and therefore the decisions, of users. For example, you should use blue to convey trust and security, while red if you want to create a sense of urgency.
Feedback and Microinteractions: microinteractions, i.e. the animations of buttons or notifications, provide immediate feedback to users, and this creates engagement, making interaction with the interface more satisfying.
Best practices and case studies
Let’s talk about an e-commerce: their mobile app managed to greatly increase conversions by implementing psychology-based design principles. By reducing the number of options in the menu, the purchasing process become more fluid and intuitive.
As for best practices for incorporating psychological design principles into your site, you should follow a few guidelines: keep the design simple and intuitive, use colors that reflect the emotions you want to elicit, and provide immediate feedback through microinteractions for making the experience satisfying.
Conclusions
Understanding user psychology is essential to creating engaging digital experiences. By using the principles of psychology in User Experience design, you can influence customers’ behaviors and emotions, improving their satisfaction and overall experience. Also taking inspiration from neuromarketing, we can certainly expand this field of research to provide increasingly fluid and integrated user experiences.