Design Psychology

1. How to use psychology for design?

2. Psychological Principles that affects people’s perception of your design • Mental Models • The Von Restorff Effect • Gestalt Principles • Visceral Reactions • The Psychology of Color • The Psychology of Shapes • Dual-Coding Theory • Cost-Benefit Analysis

3. Mental Models • Mental modeling is the process of mapping out what a person understands about the real world through experience and replicating those models in the design of something in the virtual space. This is all about trying to uncover your audience’s intuitive process. • Think of your computer files and folders. They’re based on the same old-school method of organizing hard files, so it’s easy for the user to understand -- despite the visual looking rather different. • Throughout your design process, do an “intuitive check.” Are your visuals moving right to left, top to bottom? Is your message clear and easy to understand, or is it unintentionally hidden?

4. The Von Restorff Effect • The Von Restorff effect is, quite simply, the idea that the oddball out is the one that gets remembered. • When designing, sometimes you want your audience’s eye to be drawn to one spot --even if there are other design elements around it. This might mean using a different color, font, size, etc. • For instance, in CTA creation, you can use the Von Restorff to create contrast on your page and draw your users’ attention

5. Gestalt Principles • Gestalt psychology explores how elements are perceived in relation to each other visually. The gestalt principles, or gestalt laws, focus specifically on how design elements are grouped together. • Proximity : The idea that when objects are placed in close proximity to one another, those objects are seen as a group rather than seen individually.  • Similarity: Objects that look similar will be perceived as one object or as a part of the same group. • Closure: Closure occurs when a shape is still perceived as a whole even when the object is not fully closed in reality. • Continuity: Occurs as the eye moves naturally from one object to the other. This often happens through the creation of curved lines allowing the eye to flow with the line. • Figure & ground: When the eye notices an object as an object, it separates the object (figure) from the surrounding area (the ground). 

6. Visceral Reactions • Visceral Reactionis the kind of reaction that just comes from the gut. • Designing for visceral reactions is essentially designing to create a positive aesthetic impression. To some extent it takes just knowing what looks pleasing to people and what doesn't.

7. The Psychology of Color • We often associate different colors with feelings or thoughts, so designers have done a lot of research to find out which colors humans associate with different moods. • Blue: Secure, calm, honest, trustworthy, strong, caring • Red: Energy, love, exciting, action, bold, passionate • Orange: Happy, sociable, friendly, affordable • Yellow: Logical, optimistic, forward-thinking, confidence, playful • Purple: Imaginative, creative, nostalgic • Green: Growth, organic, natural, caring, fresh, earth • Black: Sophistication, luxury, seductive, formal, authority • Multi-color: Multi-channel, positive, playful, bold, boundless

8. The Psychology of Shapes • Like colors, humans associate different shapes with certain emotions and characteristics. Although less of a principle itself, the psychology of shapes boils down to studies that have shown which characteristics people match with certain shapes. • Circles, Ovals, and Ellipses: Positive emotional messages attached to community, friendship, love, relationships, unity, and femininity. • Squares and Triangles: Stability and balance, strength, professionalism, efficiency, power, and masculinity. • Vertical Lines: Masculinity, strength, and aggression. • Horizontal Lines: Community, tranquillity, and calm.

9. Dual-Coding Theory • Dual-coding theory is the idea that both visual and verbal cues can represent ideas, but using both can help the brain recall those ideas faster. In other words, we need visual and verbal information to digest and remember information. • When designing, this means illustrating ideas as much as possible, while still using verbal messages to fully explain ideas.

10. Cost-Benefit Analysis • Whether we consciously think it or not, every decision we make goes through a cost benefit analysis, which is simply the process of weighing the costs and the benefits of an action before we take it. • If the costs outweigh the benefits, we don’t take action. • As designers, our job is to make sure whatever we have designed has benefits that outweigh the costs. This means making our content as simple as possible for the audience while still fulfilling the goal of the content. • Think of a form submission on your landing pages. Say you want to offer your audience some top-of-the-funnel content like a template or high-level ebook. • When you strategize about getting users to fill out a form to claim this content, you have to remember to design your conversion process with your audience’ cost-benefit analysis in mind. In other words, don't ask for more than you need.