Using emotions and user-centered design to change behavior

User research helps us to understand users' needs and motivations to enable us to design websites, products, and services that are easy to use. Persuasive design acts on insight gained through research, enabling us to design beyond the merely functional to create features that change users’ behavior. By understanding at what point in their journey individuals will be receptive to emotional triggers, we can ensure that design features such as images, text, and tone of voice resonate with them and persuade them to act.

Design is most effective when executed with knowledge of psychology. Knowing how people react to visual stimuli allows the crafting of an effective design, with out psychology you are guessing. There are simple psychological principles you can use to improve the effectiveness of your design even without knowing the theory behind it.

1.Visceral Reaction

I recommend using design elements that could represent any of the old brain triggers. Specifically use elements that could represent survival, threat or reproductive opportunities (sex sells.) For example, you could use an aqua blue that is similar to fresh water, bright colors that are reminiscent of fruit or a clean open design similar to a safe environment.

2.Cost-Benefit Analysis

Remember that energy expenditure is not limited to physical activity. Mental activity can be just as taxing (although in a different form.) Requiring frequent decisions, hunting, memorizing, learning or contemplation will slowly drain the user’s energy until the cost of proceeding outweighs the benefit of completing their task.

3.Hick's Law

On the web, Hick's Law tells us to keep options to a minimum. This applies for everything, including content on the page, navigational elements, images, etc... Anything that on the page gives the user another option of something to read, focus on or click. Removing everything unessential reduces the amount of unnecessary options and makes user decisions easier.

4.Gestalt Psychology

Beyond proximity and grouping, the principles include similarity, continuance and figure ground perceptions. Gestalt principles are complex enough. Ultimately it's critical to be intentional about what appears on the page and how it's treated.

5.Pattern Matching

Pattern matching also influences how familiar something feels. The more often you see something the more patterns you have stored and easier related patterns are to identify. When patterns are easily matched they feel familiar or normal. Unmatchable or difficult to match stimuli feels foreign and can even be unsettling. While drastically different these new visuals are actually more memorable, at least at first. Like anything else, repeated exposure dulls the shock value of the stimuli eventually making it feel ordinary as well.

6.Facial Recognition

Related to web design, the use of faces can draw attention or set a mood. People will naturally identify with images of people over objects, landscapes or abstractions. Furthermore the expression of the depicted person will influence how the user feels about the website. Someone happy and smiling will convey a sense of welcome where a picture of sad, starving children will convey sorrow and desperation. The more authentic the photo, the more effective it will be... this means drop the stock photography and be very intentional about what photos you take. Users will pick up on the emotions of those depicted, so avoid photos of people looking uncomfortable at all costs.

7.Social Influence

• Reciprocation: We feel obliged to return favors.
• Authority: We look to experts.
• Commitment/Consistency: We want to act consistently with our commitments and values.
• Scarcity: The less available a resource, the more we want it.
• Liking: The more we like people, the more we want to say yes to them.
• Social Proof: We look to others to guide our behavior.

Smart designers can use these concepts to influence users toward desired actions. Giving away free information or tools can be used to persuade users to volunteer their contact information via the reciprocity principle. Signs of authority or expertise can increase perceived trust. Low inventory numbers might indicate scarcity and move someone to purchase sooner than they would otherwise. It doesn’t take too much creativity to identify powerful ways to design using social influence.