Design Psychology
There’s a new area of psychology (and design) coming up.( It has been around for some time but it’s gaining popularity at the moment). Design Psychology.
Design psychology is applied in other areas of design as well as user interface design.
This article is mainly about user interface design.
Design psychology can be aided by newest research in neuroscience.
Research in design psychology
Scientists can measure the activity of the human brain through EEG (electro-encephalo-graphy). This is done while a test user is looking at a (say) web page. The areas of the brain that gets activated and the amount of activity can be measured. This then is used to come up with concepts for design psychology.
Here’re some tips that have been established through this means.
Make it easy to identify
The brain responds to what it can easily identify, what captures its attention. Whatever in your design that you want the user to respond to that has to be kept easily identifiable. This means making it front and center in your page. And also you need to declutter your page and keep it simple in order not to make other parts from crowding out what you want to grab the user’s attention. It is scientifically proven now that simple and clean designs are more effective.
Indicate what’s happening
You have to manage the expectations of the user. And you have to make sure that he doesn’t lose interest and move onto something else (the human brain has a short attention span and it doesn’t respond well to being hung up without knowing what is happening). So if it takes some time for something to load (say) you need to indicate to the user what is happening.
Display for busy readers
Most people take a quick scan at your page before they dive into it thoroughly. This happens in the F pattern. The eye moves from left to right and then from the top to bottom, in the shape of a F. So whatever you want to get the user’s first attention (to create a first impression) those have to arranged in a F pattern on the page.
Format your text
Most readers don’t fully read your page. You need to highlight the areas so that the important things get to their heads. This can be done through text formatting. Highlighting, bulleting, numbering, displaying headings and subheadings etc. (There’s a lot more you could do. But you get the idea).
Work with colors and contrast
Colors are important to the human brain. And the brain responds fast to contrast. Work in creative ways with colors and contrast. (It would be helpful to study color theory).
Gut responses
It’s necessary to have an idea about the users’ gut responses. Most impressions are made bases on the first exposure. First impressions do count. And most of the first impressions are made in the first 5 seconds. So you can interview some people you know to get an idea about the gut responses of people who’re exposed to your site.
Mind reading
This mind reading experience enhances the effectiveness of your design. With research in neuroscience and other areas of cognitive functions progressing the area of design psychology is set to make a bigger impact on how we do things.
