UX ♥️ Psychology #19

Editor's pick

7 steps to achieving flow in UX design | Elaine Tran

Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi’s concept of Flow in the Learning Theory is described as a “mental state of complete absorption in the current experience.” Flow occurs when there is a balance between how challenging a task is (Difficulty) and a person’s level of skill at the given task (Player Ability). A task that’s too difficult would lead to heightening anxiety/frustration while a task that’s too easy would lead to boredom. The Feeling of Flow:

Complete focus on what you’re working on
A sense of ecstasy — an out of the world feeling
Inner Clarity — knowing exactly what your goals are
Having the skills required to successfully complete the task
Sense of Serenity — where you don’t feel anxious or worried
Timelessness — speaks for itself
Deep intrinsic motivation — personally rewarding

Psychology in UX

How combining schemas and color psychology will improve UX

Colour is a universal language that can be used to communicate different cultures, values, and ideas. Colour psychology is well established in UX design. Colour influences everything from mood and behaviour to subconscious design decision-making. However, there is a way to make colour an even more potent part of the user experience. How? By combining it with schemas.

Attention hacking is the epidemic of our generation…

Hijacking our psychological vulnerabilities … so that we keep fiending for likes. In recent years, a forgotten psychology school called behaviorism re-emerged as an applied discipline deployed by businesses, governments & social actors. Behaviorism is based on the premise that human behaviour is best understood as a function of incentives and rewards: modify the environment, and you can shape a person’s attitude.

Persuasive Design

Under the influence: Dark patterns and the power of persuasive design

As designers, we know that our decisions have a real impact on how people use products. On the downside, poor design decisions have the potential to cause annoyance, cost users a bit of cash, or at worst, have more catastrophic results. Figuring out the intent behind designs, however, can be more tricky.

We came across this recently at work, when our general manager Damian unboxed a new 12” Macbook. We quickly noticed a problem: the new Macbook only had one port, with no adapter in sight. How was he going to charge his phone, or charge his new Magic Mouse, or connect his keyboard or monitor?

Human Cognition

The Two UX Gulfs: Evaluation and Execution

With every interaction, users must overcome the twin challenges of understanding the current state of a system and figuring out how to change it. Designers can support them by being aware of these gulfs and bridging them with a transparent conceptual model. The Gulf of Evaluation and the Gulf of Execution Two of the many challenges people must overcome to successfully interact with technology are: Evaluation: Understanding the state of the system Execution: Taking action to accomplish a specific goal

🎙Podcast

UI Breakfast Podcast. Episode 28: Psychological Principles of Persuasive Design with Victor Yocco | UI Breakfast

How can we use psychology to inform our design decisions? Our guest today is Victor Yocco — UX researcher, speaker & author of the upcoming book Design for the Mind. He walks us through the key principles of persuasive design, and explains how to apply them in real-life UX projects.

Neuroscience & UX

Design Psychology and the Neuroscience of Awesome UX

There’s a science as to why particular designs catch your eye and get your blood pumping. The human brain is lazy, biased, and prone to shortcuts. The user experience study of human cognition can be mushy, unscientific, and filled with false assumptions—perhaps it’s the fault of a lazy brain. Cognition is complex, and many factors play into gut reactions or an instant impression. When you ask someone, “Why’d you do that?” there’s a high chance they won’t be able to answer or that you’ll misinterpret their response.