User Experience (UX) has become one of the most important aspects of modern web design. UX design combines user interactions, emotion, and usability on a website, no matter the device.
The point of focusing on UX within your website is to always be improving your customer’s journey when interacting with your brand online. Essentially, you need to meet your customer’s needs on your website! Your main focus should be on providing a positive, clear experience that will be meaningful for users. In return, a positive user experience can lead to greater success in generating leads.
Now, let’s look at some of the factors that influence UX design.
What Factors Influence UX Design?
Peter Morville, a User Experience Consultant, came up with the UX Honeycomb Model. The theory discusses 7 influential factors on what makes a good UX design. The 7 factors are:
- Usefulness (needs to be original, meaningful, and of use for users)
- Usability (needs to be simple and easy to use)
- Desirability (needs to bring out emotion and desire)
- Valuable (needs to be original and provide value for users)
- Findability (needs to be discoverable online)
- Accessibility (needs to accommodate users with disabilities)
- Credibility (needs to be trustworthy)
5 UX Design Thinking Psychology Principles
There is a lot of thinking, theorizing, editing, and perfecting in UX design. The process can’t be rushed and may require collaboration between team members. Here are 5 UX design psychology principles that may help improve your design thinking skills and the overall UX.
1. Hick’s Law
Hick’s Law states that the longer it takes to make a decision, the more options you have. Hick’s Law taps into usability and findability factors of UX. Make your user’s experience on your website simple, clean, and easy to navigate to avoid having too many options that can be confusing for users. An example of this may include a non-crowded, clearly categorized navigation menu. Too many navigation menu items or pages that aren’t necessarily clear can be difficult for users to navigate.
2. Fitt’s Law
The Fitt’s Law psychology principle can be mathematically calculated using the following formula:
T=a+b log2 (2 D/W)
Key
T=time
a+b=numeric coefficients
D=distance
W=width
Fitt’s Law ultimately calculates the movement of a user over time. Fitt’s Law will show how long it will take for a user to point at an object at a specific distance. Studies show that with Fitt’s Law formula, we can learn that larger, closer objects are easier to point at than smaller, farther objects. What does this mean for UX design? Well, if your goal is to have someone contact you through a button on your homepage – make it large and clear what you want users to do. However, it’s important to still take size into consideration. Don’t make objects TOO big that it’s overwhelming for users but size appropriately for importance on your website.
3. The Von Restorff Effect
The Von Restorff Effect insists that any object that sticks out from the rest is more likely to be remembered by users. This effect can apply to visual and auditory things. For example, consider the following words:
- Car
- Traffic
- Garage
- Drive
- Park
- Zebra
The word Zebra likely stood out from the rest to you because 1-the color is different, 2-the word does not relate to the others, 3-it’s isolated. You can use this concept to your advantage in UX design to highlight the features and benefits of products and services. Using The Von Restorff Effect in UX design, ensure the important things you want users to remember on your site stand out from the rest.
4. UX Design + Color Theory
Color use within UX design may sound simple but it’s actually much more complex than many people think! When deciding what colors to use within your UX design, know your audience. Different colors mean different things across different genders, ages, and cultures. Take a look at some common color meanings below:
- Red=aggressive, passionate, strong, powerful, assertive, fear, danger
- Orange=fun, cheery, sun, spontaneous, optimistic
- Yellow=friendly, positive, cowardly, energetic, caution
- Green=healthy, fertile, fresh, environmentally friendly, nature, reliable
- Blue=authority, nautical, security, confidence, stability, trust
- Purple=sophisticated, mysterious, spiritual, wealth, royalty
- Black=serious, elegant, bold, powerful, expensive
Color can truly evoke emotion and feelings that will be associated with your brand. Additionally, focus on readability when figuring out what colors to use. For example, a white button will stand out on a black background more than a navy blue button will. In UX design, color theory can be used almost as a visual hierarchy. Low contrast colors – low hierarchy. High contrast colors – high hierarchy.
5. The Pareto Principle
The Pareto Principle (also known as the 80/20 rule and the law of the vital few), states that 80% of the outcome is derived from 20% of what you do. Or in UX design terms…80% of your users will use 20% of the features on your website. This rule can be helpful when knowing what aspects of your business, goals, user experience, and website you want to prioritize.
Why You Should Hire a Professional UX Design Agency
As a professional UX design agency, we know your website is the modern-day storefront – whether you are selling products or services. We will help walk you through the UX design process when it comes to the usability, usefulness, desirability, value, findability, accessibility, and credibility of your website.
Your website is one of the first things that customers see about your business. An attractive, user-friendly website builds confidence in your brand and turns clicks into committed customers. The 5 UX design psychology principles we discussed in this article are important to take into account as you’re planning the layout and design of your website.
At Symboliq, our goal is to help create memorable web experiences for desktop and mobile devices to help your customers find what they’re looking for. Using WordPress, Woo-Commerce, Shopify, or by creating a custom site, we can help create and optimize your site to drive traffic towards profitability and lead generation. Contact us today!
If you liked this Symboliq blog, take a look at these other blogs:
–What to Expect During the Symboliq Media Branding Process
–Why Rebranding Can be Revolutionary for Your Company
