Psychological Aspects of UX Design

The user interaction with digital products through the interface is subject to psychological rules. The fundamental rule is that the process must have a beginning, a culmination, and a logical conclusion. The product interface must be intuitive (to some extent, a template), and it must also be logically understandable. Hints, motivators, a progress bar, and achievers are used to achieve the latter.

For reference

A web-based user interface (UI) — is a tool designed to display additional information or manage a website through a web interface. Such an interface can be used to control any component when a standard application is not available. For example, the appearance of the web interface is created using HTML, JavaScript, and CSS, and a web application works in conjunction with a database, such as MySQL.

On the experience of our colleagues from Gearheart.io, a psychologist’s perspective is most interesting when it comes to the intersection of UI and UX. This is where the former influences the latter. A well-designed UX design aims to anticipate user behavior on a product interface. Anticipating means:

1. Understanding what emotions the user experiences at each point of contact with the product and,
2. Using UI elements to make the user filling such emotions that would push him to take the target action – buy, subscribe, watch, read.

The complexity of this UX task lies in the fact that you need to design UI elements in a way that is convenient for the user to navigate through the product; recently, there has been a bias towards minimalism – this is, on the one hand. On the other hand, since the interface must be functional at all intersection points in products with complex business logic, the first (minimalistic UI) contradicts the second (functionality) argument.

1. Psychological aspects of UX design

There is no ideal solution for designing a product interface that would satisfy both the client (in terms of his psychological comfort) and the product (in terms of its functionality). To help a UX designer cope with the task of developing a psychologically correct and productive web design, we selected the following laws of psychology, elevated into 3 UX principles that can be applied to working on a UI.

The principle of Feedback Uncertainty

Psychological apperception and stereotypes about consciousness influence the phenomenon of feedback uncertainty. We are discussing the previous experience of the potential buyer interacting with the site, which must meet the user’s expectations. Hence, this phenomenon includes a person’s dependence on external influences on internal psychological conditions (structures).

What are we talking about?

If the user behavior on the interface matches the product’s business logic and meets user expectations, then the UX designer has done an excellent job. If the user is stuck on one element for a long time or returns to the home page several times without completing the target action, the site visitor may be interested but may need help achieving his goal.

Application of feedback uncertainty principle

Navigating the site should give the user a feeling of ease and complete control. Lacking some standard elements, the site visitor may feel uncomfortable. To address this issue, the UX designer should use UI elements and arrange them to appeal to the user’s previous UX experience. For example, when discussing an online store, the menu should be located in the same place as on other single-themed portals.

1. Paradox of Choice

The point is – the more options we have, the less satisfied we are with our decision. Psychologists William Hick and Ray Hyman developed a formula showing the logarithmic relationship between reaction time and the number of options to choose from. 

What is it about?

When applied to the behavior of users on a website, William Hick and Ray Hyman’s law demonstrates that the amount of information entering the brain determines the time it takes for a user to decide. So, depending on the number of options offered: the more choices, the less likely the user will make a purchase.

Application of the Paradox of Choice

This Paradox designs and creates dropdown menus, signup forms, contact forms, navigation menus, lists, and more. Under this principle, the choice of an option must be of the minimum number required and be either obvious or logically understandable to the user. In the case of complex products, the choice of an option is best represented as a step-by-step solution to a user problem.

1. The Peak rule

“People judge experiences based largely on how they felt at the peak and the end of the interaction with the object, rather than the total or average of each moment of the experience.” — this is the Peak rule.

What are we talking about?

This so-called “peak and end” rule is a psychological heuristic in which users judge an experience based on how they felt at the peak and the end of some occasion. For example, a visitor to your site thought he belonged to a selected community and, in the end, received confirmation of this – some insight. So, measuring UX in emotions and the cognitive abilities of a person – understanding the causal relationship between events – will tell your user that the reason for his elite well-being is your Internet resource.

Applying the Peak Rule

The “peak and end” rule allows you to build memorable products, improve the subjective opinion of users about the product, and emotionally attach users to it as a reason for them, for example, high self-esteem.

The points of application of the “peak and end” rule are the most intense moments of typical user behavior on the site (“peaks”) and endpoints (“end”). It is at these points that users should receive product value propositions. Such offers are implemented with the help of interactive elements, icons, live illustrations, and simple navigation. These UI elements, located at the peak and end points of the product’s business logic, should engage users to immerse them in the sense of the value or significance of the product.

Finding

The laws of social, behavioral, and cognitive psychology help UX designers develop persuasive user scenarios. Understanding how users perceive and interpret visual elements gives control over their actions and helps build transparent communication between the user and the product through the interface. 

 The principles in question:

• The principle of feedback uncertainty
• Paradox of Choice
• The Peak rule

Applying the three principles of psychology from Gearheart.io not only improves the user experience, but also makes it expressive and precise. Thus, trust is achieved, which leads users to the desired target action for all parties.

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