We all know that psychology is a powerful tool. Used properly, it can be very influential, persuading people to take action. In the world of web design, this is extremely important.
If you want to create an effective website that converts visitors into customers, you need to leverage the psychology of web design. Keep reading to find out more.
What is Web Design Psychology?
Designing your website should not make your website look beautiful. It should annoy your visitors, keep their attention, and get them activated.
That’s where web design psychology comes in. Every color, font and space has a psychological significance, which helps people connect to your Web site. These elements trigger subconscious reactions, which you must leverage to get that desired action.
It takes seconds for people to decide if your website has all the options and information you need. Web design psychology helps with youthe designer, to understand these subconscious processes and how to exploit them.
The Benefits of Using Psychology in Web Design
The main advantage of leverage psychology in web design is to speak to people in their language. He’s talking in too do find common language and land. That’s how you can build trust.
You want to use familiar colors and patterns, features that make you stand out but also connect with people. Visitors want you to understand what your website is about and where they can find more information quickly. Then you have to push the right trigger. Comic Sans, for example, is a great inspiration and we’ll discuss it below. Color, space and lines also have a significant impact on how people view your website.
Most importantly, all of these elements set the tone for visitor engagement with your website.
How to Use Psychology in Web Design
Now you understand why knowledge of the basics of human psychology is essential in web design. We’ll see how you can leverage it!
1. Setup
The psychology of Gestalt illustrates the influence of the following elements on your visitors:
- Similarity – people look at similar things at least or at least part of the same concept.
- Proximity – things that are close to each other are viewed as part of the same group.
- Continuity – you want your visitor ‘s vision to move naturally from one element to another.
- Closed – an object that is not yet completely closed is detected as human brains will always fill in the gaps.
- True and ground – people simplify images into the main objects they are looking at (the figure) and the other elements (background).
The Target Jobs website here is a great example of:
- Similar objects are grouped: note how the first three images show happy young people in different professional environments. This placement suggests that Target can help anyone get their dream job.
- These pictures are placed next to specific keywords: the young people are made laughing next to the CTA “Exploring opportunities.” So Target Jobs is involved with do happiness and do future chances.
- The colors, font, and spaces allow a smooth transition: users are directed to continue scrolling down, moving from one section of the webpage to the next. Also, note that each section has its own theme, focused on the benefits of Target Jobs.
- The contrasting colors (orange, white, purple, etc.) leverage the figure-and-ground technique: so if one item is focused, the others are part of the background. The advantage here is that your attention is not divided into a million pieces; you can focus on one thing at a time and understand what you want to say with Target Jobs.
2. Shapes
Each shape has a different subconscious connection:
- Triangles and squares demonstrate professionalism, strength, and power.
- Circles, oval, and ellipses symbolizes relationships, love and unity.
- Horizontal lines give a feeling of calm and community.
- Vertical lines demonstrate strength and action.
All you have to do is look at the AT&T website. Everything represents companionship and tranquility, from the exact logo to the horizontal lines that border each section.
But this website is anything but dull. Note how a tiny arrow follows each CTA button (“learn more,” “register now”). This shape uses a square angle divided into two acute angles by the body of the arrows. So even though it is small, the arrow suggests action and strength. Moreover, the sections are arranged in squares, again a symbol of determination and power.
3. Space
No matter what industry your business is part of, space is essential in web design. Do not clutter your web pages even with as much information as possible about your natural meaning.
Use plenty of white space and try to have a minimalist approach. Identify the unique selling point on each page and help people focus on that.
See the DOGUE webpage. White spaces separate all basic elements, so each part is clearly presented. The first thing you notice is the title and image with the happy dogs. Then your look moves to the slogan on the right hand side. Next, you notice the articles below that huge “Dogue”. The next section of the website highlights the company’s services (eg, groom, dine, play, etc.). Note how each service is represented by a quick and easy to find keyword. Moreover, the images perfectly reflect these keywords. Better yet, these images have bright-gray backgrounds that blend in with the white spaces in between. So while the Web site is more crowded than any other, you would not find it weighted or obscure.
SendInBlue, an email marketing service, uses a similar white space approach to its design, and works great because website visitors can find what they want much more easily, and generally look much cleaner.
4. Color
The right colors can attract attention, keep interest and even guide action. Moreover, color increases brand recognition by 80%.
Here is the bare minimum you need to consider:
- Your purpose – what do you want your visitors to do when they land on your page? For example, if you want your visitors to fill out a form, you may want to use a color that stands out and is easy to see. While blue is the safest choice as most liked, red encourages more activity.
- Your audience – cultures are differently associated with color. For example, in Western life, white represents purity. However, white is associated with death and mourning in Asia.
- The mood you want to create – do you want your website to be professional? Relax and relax? Exciting and energetic? How would you like to see your brand?
The front page of the Mount is a great example of color:
- Purple and orange create a delicate contrast that brings visitors in the right direction. Note that all CTAs are orange – an action – inspired color.
- Purple exudes calmness, bravery and wisdom. It is a great color for your background as it is so stabilized.
Bee Loan Singapore uses color and white space to display user-generated content on its webpage:
Another great example of combining different colors to build trust is the Identity Guard website, which provides identity theft protection services. As you can see on the website, they use a minimalist white color combined with green, which is the official color at Trustpilot (one of the most popular review directories). This color selection helps to highlight the veracity of the reviews as well as the mention that these reviews are taken from Trustpilot.
5. Prints
Good web design is like good outfits: it should be eye – catching but not too loud.
The same is true of typefaces.
While a website should use different typefaces to add interest, it is essential to use them in moderation. Too many different fonts can make your site look large and cluttered.
Instead, focus on using a few critical fonts throughout your site, and use variations (such as bold or italics) to add visual interest. For example, you may want to use a serif font for your headlines and a sans serif font for your body text.
Apart from looking good, fonts can also be used to guide users towards performing specific actions. For example, Sans-serif fonts like Arial or Helvetica are generally considered more readable online, making them a good choice for body text. Decorative scripts and fonts, on the other hand, are more suitable for headlines or calls to action, as they help to highlight essential elements of the page.
A Marvel page on Captain Marvel looks at something a 10-year-old would have designed in the 1990s. This web page is full of horror from the glitters, gifs, crowded space, and horror print face of Comic Sans.
And that’s the point; Avoiding plot-spoilers, Captain Marvel is linked to the 90s, and the retro look is part of that message. The moral of the webpage is that sometimes you have to be brave and break the rules if you want to convey a certain emotion to your audience. Marvel manages to do just that with its simple design that acts as a time machine into the long nineties.
Wrap Up
If you want to keep your website visitors’ attention, stay interested and take action, it is essential to use the above design principles. By leveraging space, fonts, layout, shapes and colors in your web design, you can create a website that is visually appealing and effective in communicating your message.
However, these principles are only guidelines. You should stay brave and use your intuition. Remember that the point of web design is talking to your audience using their language.
