The Psychology of Design
Technology design has more to do with you than you think
Though we may not realise, much of our perception of any piece of technology we interact with is guided by our stimulus response to sensory effects such as visuals, audio, and touch. The collective term for this and a buzzword in the tech industry today, is User Experience (UX). Using design principles and human-computer interaction theories to enhance how we can access and interact with physical hardware or software is the foundation of UX Design.
To understand why UX is important, think about how we access websites on our smartphones. Imagine the frustration when any page you visit has the same layout as it would on a desktop computer, but much zoomed out. You need to pinch to zoom in and swipe all the way to the button you want to press. Contrast this with any popular online newspaper. Content is arranged ergonomically, fitting perfectly to the size of your mobile screen that requires you to only scroll downwards. This is the idea of responsive web design and improved UX, where screen-size dependent behaviour is manually coded onto the website style-sheet.
Since much of UX design is inspired by how we interact and behave with systems, psychological principles that explain and predict human behaviour play a vital role in these. Research findings that describe how individuals react to visuals and other stimuli form the foundation for Neurodesign, a sub-division of Neurosciences whose principles explain the cognitive impact of patterns, visuals, and guide innovations in modern design. Let’s look at some theories here and how they apply to technology.
Anchoring Bias
One of the hot topics in Psychology is the study of biases, or deviations from otherwise rational behaviour that makes us act prejudicial and assign disproportionate importance to certain traits or beliefs. A common bias we suffer from is anchoring, wherein we give far too much consideration and importance to the first piece of data we receive about an idea or decision. This eventually influences our future course of action. A negotiation is likely to close at a high settlement if the initial offer quoted is higher than justified. In litigation, judges are susceptible to award longer sentences and higher penalties, anchored by the demands of prosecutors. This is anchoring bias.
How does this apply to design?
Companies selling pricing plans and subscriptions online usually highlight their expensive plans first, keeping cheaper and popular ones aside. This anchors the user towards thinking the lower priced ones are cheaper, boosting sales. Take a look below.
Miller’s Law
Quite intuitive and self-explanatory, Miller’s law states that an average human mind can retain around 7–9 items in its working memory. Excessive number of options strain our short-term memory capacity and impair decision-making. Accompanying Miller’s law is the concept of ‘Chunking’, that is grouping similar data to form chunks that make its comprehension easier. The relative size of the chunks is less significant compared to the visual distinctness created that makes it easier to process.
Take a look at Bloomberg’s newspaper below, divided into groups based on the nature of information. This makes it possible for us to visually assess and decide what we want to read from the lot.
Scanning Patterns
Before you read in detail what a website contains, it is common practice for you to first take a quick glance at its contents. You’d be surprised to know that there are definite psychological patterns for doing so, and designers know this. A web page with heavy content is usually scanned in a ‘F’ format, wherein we look downwards vertically on the left side, reading horizontal lines as per our triggered interest. Now open the New York Times and observe your natural behaviour. Pages with lower text content are scanned horizontally at the top and then at the bottom, in the shape of a ‘Z’. When designers can predict where your eye will move, they’ll place content that makes you want to stay longer, there.
Nudging
We tend to make decisions unconsciously and the architecture of choices put forward to us can influence them deeply. This is nudging, pointing our behaviour in certain directions without restricting options or giving straightforward incentives. You’re less likely to consume an unhealthy snack from a vending machine if a protein bar is placed right next to it. You’re being nudged to eat healthy.
There are subtle nudges in technology design.
Online food ordering apps track patterns in your ordering history and will send notification prompts to you when they know it’s your mealtime. You must have seen ads on websites of products you were previously browsing through. Check boxes permitting sites to send you promotional content are selected by default, nudging you to allow them to do so.
The learning here is that we’re influenced by such psychological design mechanisms more deeply than we realise. The question of ethics in design and how we utilise user data to influence their emotions and decisions is an important one. The boundary protecting user privacy and enforcing transparency is a grey area, and the next time you fire up your laptop to surf the net, you’ll be the smarter one.
