The easier designs are to use, the less users tend to think about the work that went into making them that way. We know good designs are largely the result of your careful efforts — thank you.
The Zeigarnik effect suggests that unfinished tasks are more memorable than completed ones. In UX design, we can leverage this effect to encourage user engagement and task completion.
A Flow State is an enjoyable mental state of extreme focus provided by the perfect balance of challenge and skill. Follow our 3 tips to design products that allow users to enter the flow state.
Use this versatile GUI tool to support users when they need to make a decision that involves considering multiple attributes of a small number of items.
Users are more tolerant of minor usability issues when they find an interface visually appealing. This aesthetic-usability effect can mask UI problems during usability testing. Identify instances of the aesthetic-usability effect in your user research by watching what your users do, as well as listening to what they say.
What users believe they know about a user interface impacts how they use it. Mismatched mental models are common, especially with designs that try something new.
Recalling items from scratch is harder than recognizing the correct option in a list of choices because the extra context helps users retrieve information from memory.
Large language models like ChatGPT can lie to elicit approval from users. This phenomenon, called sycophancy, can be detected in state-of-the-art models.
Unsure where to start? Use this collection of links to our articles and videos to learn about some principles of human psychology and how they relate to UX design.
The ELIZA effect describes users' tendency to quickly attribute human characteristics to artificial systems when the interaction feels human-like. This is why people fall in love with AI.
Teams often make worse decisions than individuals by relying too much on widely understood data while disregarding information possessed by only a few individuals.
Any type of innovation requires users to learn the new pattern. It's worth departing from convention only if you are sure that the new pattern will perform better than what is already available.
Basic psychological principles can guide you as a UX designer because most users share many common characteristics. Consider learning more about: motivation, attention, memory, persuasion, learning, decision making, emotion, sensation, perception, or cognitive biases.
Users perceive interface design elements that differentiate the foreground (figure) from the background (ground) as something to focus on or interact with.
The easier designs are to use, the less users tend to think about the work that went into making them that way. We know good designs are largely the result of your careful efforts — thank you.
The Zeigarnik effect suggests that unfinished tasks are more memorable than completed ones. In UX design, we can leverage this effect to encourage user engagement and task completion.
A Flow State is an enjoyable mental state of extreme focus provided by the perfect balance of challenge and skill. Follow our 3 tips to design products that allow users to enter the flow state.
The ELIZA effect describes users' tendency to quickly attribute human characteristics to artificial systems when the interaction feels human-like. This is why people fall in love with AI.
Any type of innovation requires users to learn the new pattern. It's worth departing from convention only if you are sure that the new pattern will perform better than what is already available.
Basic psychological principles can guide you as a UX designer because most users share many common characteristics. Consider learning more about: motivation, attention, memory, persuasion, learning, decision making, emotion, sensation, perception, or cognitive biases.
Users perceive interface design elements that differentiate the foreground (figure) from the background (ground) as something to focus on or interact with.
Things that move in synch are perceived as belonging to the same group and being different than other screen elements that stay put or move differently.
Visual design elements that are connected (for example, by a line) are seen as belonging together. This principle is strong enough to overrule small differences between the items.
Users don't work hard enough to discover how to use your design in the intended manner. Bad user! But really, they're just prioritizing their own time and interests and behaving the way evolution made people.
UI elements that are close together are perceived as belonging together, whereas users think that things that are apart play different roles in the interaction.
User interface elements that share one or more traits (such as shape, color, size, etc.) will be seen by users as being similar and belonging together.
The gestalt principles for visual perception make users see some graphical user interface design elements as parts of a whole, and others as being separate, and thus different.
User experience is not really about computers or technology. It's about the users (people) and about the design teams and proper processes for their members (people) to produce good UX.
Use this versatile GUI tool to support users when they need to make a decision that involves considering multiple attributes of a small number of items.
Users are more tolerant of minor usability issues when they find an interface visually appealing. This aesthetic-usability effect can mask UI problems during usability testing. Identify instances of the aesthetic-usability effect in your user research by watching what your users do, as well as listening to what they say.
What users believe they know about a user interface impacts how they use it. Mismatched mental models are common, especially with designs that try something new.
Recalling items from scratch is harder than recognizing the correct option in a list of choices because the extra context helps users retrieve information from memory.
Large language models like ChatGPT can lie to elicit approval from users. This phenomenon, called sycophancy, can be detected in state-of-the-art models.
Unsure where to start? Use this collection of links to our articles and videos to learn about some principles of human psychology and how they relate to UX design.
Teams often make worse decisions than individuals by relying too much on widely understood data while disregarding information possessed by only a few individuals.
Delight can be experienced viscerally, behaviorally, and reflectively. A great design is supported by all three of these pillars and is best evaluated with specific research methods.
Effective storytelling involves both engaging the audience and structuring stories in a concise, yet effective manner. You can improve your user stories by taking advantage of the concept of story triangle and of the story-mountain template.
People tend to prefer information that confirms their existing beliefs and to undervalue information that contradicts their beliefs. With the appropriate research methods, the confirmation bias can be recognized and avoided in UX design.
Addressing these 3 fundamental psychological needs in our products increases user motivation and well-being. Users will be more engaged and more likely to use our designs.
Users’ mental models of concept categories are far less strict than you might expect. Consider keeping small numbers of outlier pages within their larger parent category, rather than creating unnecessary subcategories.
