There is a science that explains why particular designs attract attention and make peoples’ blood pump. 

You may not have the Harry Potter wand to cast a spell and make what you dream come true, but when you ever had a perfect interface (like those on your IPhone) or a place that looked so perfect and appealing to you, You immediately added it to your bookmarks, to serve as a guide in your next developments. 

If you get to understand the way in which your designs are perceived, you will be able to make the necessary adjustments so that the pages or applications that you are creating are more effective, in this way you will achieve your objectives of having an application that generates attraction but that at the same time meets The objective of covering the user’s needs. 

To help you understand how users perceive your designs we will talk about some user psychological principles, which we consider to be some of the most important. 

1.  Serial position effect

Refers to the propensity of a user to better memorize the first and last item in a series.  Users have the natural inclination to better remember the first and last element of a series that is the effect of serial position. 

And that’s why nowadays, more and more mobile applications are abandoning the burger menu for a navigation bar at the top or bottom of the screen.  Important buttons like the return to the home of the application or the parameters of its profile are often located on the left (first element) and on the right (last element) of the bar. 

For example, Twitter application, the home is located first while the send message button is located on the right. 

Note that the tweeter button is conveniently located at the bottom right of the screen, in an easy-access area for the thumb of the right hand. 

Source: by Aaron Martinez

2.  Cognitive load

Cognitive load is the amount of effort that the user’s working memory makes, that is, the amount of thought the user needs to complete a task.  While lower cognitive load will be better for the user. 

The theory of cognitive load explains the failures or successes of people who are mainly in learning activity but also in a problem-solving activity. 

In a UX context, these are all thoughts that we will implement to achieve a specific task.  When we are confronted with a graphical interface that will ask us to interact with it, the user is indeed in a learning activity and problem-solving. 

The theory of cognitive load in three types:

The intrinsic charge; The extrinsic charge; The essential cognitive load (germane cognitive load ). 

Let’s dwell here on the “intrinsic” and “essential” types that are more easily applicable in a UX context. 

3.  The Von Restorff effect

The Von Restorff effect (or the isolation effect, named after the psychiatrist Hedwig von Restorff), is quite simple to understand: when several similar elements are present, we will retain the one that differs from the others. 

This is why call-to-action is highlighted in an application: color, shape, different location…

Example — Von Restorff Effect

Quite simply, we want the user to be able to differentiate between a simple button and a CTA, so as to encourage him to click. 

In the following example, two versions of a product page on a “relatively” known online store.  For example, I voluntarily changed the color of the button “Add to cart” (orange at the base), so as to standardize with the color of the logo and the button below “Add to my favorites”.  What version do you think encourages the user to add a product to their cart? 

Based on the Von Restorff effect, the answer is pretty obvious… but we can always do A/B testing to get it right! 

4.  Hick’s Law

Hick’s law is one of the most popular and easiest to apply; Hick’s law is probably the best-known principle with the psychology of form (theory of Gestalt). 

It is also a very simple law to understand and use in UX design.  Hick’s law states that the time taken by a person to make a decision depends on the number of choices available.  So if this number increases, the time allotted to this action will also increase (logic).  And also, if you increase the number of options before the user your decision will increase exponentially. 

5.  Proximity Law

The law of proximity is the Gestalt laws of the perceptual organization, and it states that that the closer you are to objects, the more likely you are to consider them as belonging to the same group.  This means that our brain easily associates objects that are close to each other better than objects that are far apart. 

This happens because we humans have a natural tendency to group things and organize.  So they should be careful with the design of interfaces (UI) since users might think that somethings are associated with each other when they are not. 

6.  The intrinsic cognitive load

This theory indicates the difficulty that can be encountered in the face of a given instruction.  This is why messages encountered when navigating an application play a vital role in the user experience. 

For example, on a mobile application, when you have an empty screen (no recorded elements for example), you must encourage the user to perform his task.  These instructions should be short and easy to understand. 

Short sentences, which leave no room for doubts!  Nothing prevents you from having humor…

7.  The essential load

The essential load allows the integration of knowledge in long-term memory, in the form of mental schemas. 

The advantage of using design patterns in UX design is that they are designed to cause the user a default action.  For the latter, it will be easier to recognize and learn something new within an interface since it will interact in an environment that he understands and already masters. 

8.  Conversational memory

The creation of both long and short term memory for the AV/chatbot is one of the fundamental actions for the user to enjoy a completely satisfactory experience talking to the machine. 

In order for the machine to be completely conversational, the AV/Chabot must remember the content of the previous interactions with the user in the same context (that is, in the voice application itself), in addition to the information they are sharing in the exchange underway. 

9.  Endowment effect? 

This effect is another trap in our brain that affects our ability to analyze and make decisions.  It is a reflex act by which we tend to value our object that we have against another that is not ours yet. 

Attaching some features of customer-owned personalization to your onboarding can drastically enhance onboarding completion rates. 

Find approaches to customize the user experience or give personalization choices early in your user onboarding progress.  This encourages users to begin attaching value to your product on time, building up an emotional connection with your app and improving the likelihood they’ll continue (or start) paying for your services or product. 

10.  Make accessibility count

The starting point to provide a better user experience on mobile devices is to work with accessibility.  In the case of mobile applications and websites, accessibility is most important.  A good design of user experience is vital in mobile accessibility, therefore, the design of the app or site must be adapted according to its main functions, products or services that are to be highlighted.  With this part accomplished, you should try to eliminate the notion of continuous scrolling on the apps site since users prefer to have the key functions on the main screen. 

Accessibility also implies that the content must be accessible to all types of people, including those with certain disabilities, for which different interfaces are required. 

We hope you keep these tips in mind and help you have an application or website that appeals, is pleasing, and easy to use!