Designing with Psychology in Mind 5 principles from psychology that we can use to inform web design
@bokardo Kurt Lewin “Founder of Social Psychology” B=⨍(PE)
Lewin’s Equation B=⨍(PE)
Behavior is a function of a Person & their Environment We can’t change the Person B=⨍(PE)
But we can change Behavior by designing the Environment
Ahem...that’s our job. When we as web designers create screens we are de!ning the universe for our users. We are crafting an environment through which all activity occurs. This is a huge responsibility!
If something doesn’t exist in the interface, it doesn’t exist period. In this way we are playing God... The Stanford Prison Experiment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKW_MzREPp4 The Lucifer Effect raises a fundamental question about human nature: How is it possible for ordinary, average, even good people to become perpetrators of evil? In trying to understand unusual, or aberrant behavior, we often err in focusing exclusively on the inner determinants of genes, personality, and character, as we also tend to ignore what may be the critical catalyst for behavior change in the external Situation or in the System that creates and maintains such situations. (aka the Fundamental Attribution Error) Behavior change: Change people from offline shoppers to online buyers Behavior change: Change people from prospective to happy clients Behavior change: Change people from readers to subscribers What do web designers do? observe record in!uence respond to induce guide Web designers change behavior monitor elicit support enable manipulate encourage provoke de"ne Changing behavior is what web designers do. Changing behavior is what psychologists study. The emergence of the Internet has led to a “proliferation of Web sites designed to persuade or motivate people to change their attitudes and behavior. Web sites are the most common form of persuasive technology today.
B.J. Fogg - Persuasive Technology PDAs motivation web sites video games attitude change
mobile phones desktop software Captology change in worldview smart environments exercise equipment behavior change virtual reality kiosks compliance
Computers Persuasion One more for the pile...
Psychologist
Information Coder Architect Usability Specialist
Visual UX Designer Designer Programmer
Copywriter Client Babysitter Icon Designer Behavior First.
Design Second. Egocentric Worldview We can’t help but see ourselves at the center of it all. “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act I, Scene 5 Maslow’s
Hierarchy of Needs Self- actualization
Esteem
Love
Safety
Physiological The Del.icio.us Lesson Personal value precedes network value Del.icio.us Popular My Del.icio.us (social value) (personal value)
Even if the social value didn’t exist, Del.icio.us would still provide real, personal value
Awareness Test
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahg6qcgoay4 Single Locus of Attention We can actively think about only one thing at a time. When you are awake and conscious, your “locus of attention is a feature or object in the physical world or an idea about which you are intently and actively thinking.
Jef Raskin - The Humane Interface Obligatory Apple slide :) Obligatory Apple slide :)
...you need to limit distractions to the full extent possible. Pull quotes—so effective near the top of an article— “become a nuisance further down; many readers will "nd themselves unconsciously drawn to them, even when they want to focus on the text. Mandy Brown, describing how to keep the text as the locus of attention 1. Invite the reader in Summary, subheadings, illustrations, callouts, site logo, navigation
3 Distinct Phases 2. Leave the reader alone (nothing but text & inline content)
3. Provide avenues to continue interest Comments, learn more, about the author
Social Proof The mere fact that others are doing something is often enough for us to do it as well
Product Ratings
Share your own Product Images Tell a friend
People who viewed this...buy this Amazon sales rank
Customers who bought this also bought...
Rate this item
Customer Reviews
Customer Discussions
Offsite Reviews Listmania
Social Proof at Amazon
Social In!uence & Blockbusters
What should entertainment companies do to improve their odds of success? The key is to understand that the outsize performance of hits is not driven solely, or perhaps even primarily, by intrinsic attributes such as sound, plot, style, or even star power. Rather, (our) new research shows, much of the success of entertainment products derives from social in#uence–the effect that consumers have on one another’s decisions. So in addition to anticipating which features individual consumers might $nd desirable, executives designers should adopt strategies that take social in#uence into account.
Duncan Watts & Steve Hasker Harvard Business Review, September 2006 Quick data point
After Rypple added avatars to emails, response rate improved between 15 and 20%.
Porter’s Law of Avatars Avatars increase in size and realism over time. Positive Reinforcement Immediate, positive feedback elicits similar behavior in the future. Four behavioral consequences and their effects.
Get something you want Positive Reinforcement
Avoid something you don’t want Negative Reinforcement Behavior Get something you don’t want Punishment
Lose something you have Penalty Super important!
The behavior you’re seeing is the behavior you’ve designed for.
(whether intentional or not) Tumblr: Initial login (before 1st post) Tumblr: After 1st post Tumblr: After 2nd post Tumblr: After a few posts Passionate Engagement We all know that money doesn’t make us happy... but can we design for what does? #ow the mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity also known as being “in the zone”, “in the groove”, or “fully engaged” Conditions for Flow
1. Clear goals 2. Concentration & Focus 3. Loss of the feeling of self-conciousness 4. Distorted sense of time 5. Direct & Immediate feedback 6. A sense of control over the situation 7. Intrinsically rewarding 8. Action and awareness merge 9. Balance between ability level & challenge “One cannot enjoy doing the same thing at the same level for long.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - Flow, The Psychology of Optimal Experience Very challenging
Anxiety
Flow Channel Challenges
Boredom
Social Networks
Trivial
Low Skills High LinkedIn: No challenge! Very challenging
Anxiety
Productivity Apps
Flow Channel Challenges
Boredom
Social Networks
Trivial
Low Skills High Campaign Monitor: Improving Skills Rypple: Improving Skills The more knowledge and skill someone “has, the more passionate they become, and the more passionate they become, the more they try to improve their knowledge and skills.
Kathy Sierra - Creating Passionate Users
Wait.
Isn’t this all a bit...evil? So, when and how do we turn on the light “to let the dogs drool?
Brendan Thesingh, commenting on my blog manipulate verb. to control or in#uence cleverly, unfairly, or unscrupulously. Evolution of Facebook Beacon
#1
#2
#3
#4 “We bear in mind that the object being worked on is going to be ridden in, sat upon, looked at, talked into, activated, operated, or in some other way used by people “individually or en masse. When the point of contact between the product and the people becomes a point of friction, then the designer has failed.
On the other hand if people are made safer, more comfortable, more eager to purchase, more efficient—or just plain happier—by contact with the product, then the designer has succeeded.
Henry Dreyfuss - Designing for People 5 Principles
1. Egocentric worldview 2. Single locus of attention 3. Social Proof 4. Positive Reinforcement 5. Passionate Engagement (challenge + skill improvement) Thank you.
[email protected] http://bokardo.com @bokardo