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.
People react user experience at 3 levels of emotional processing, as defined by Don Norman: visceral, behavioral, and reflective. Understanding these different levels is important for better UX design.
Dark design patterns intentionally trick users into doing things they don't want to do. This is different than persuasive UX which nudges users without deception.
Confirmation bias is the tendency to preferentially seek out or believe data that confirms your expectations. For example, thinking that one part of the UI is well designed and another is bad, might you give more weight to observations of usability test participants having trouble with that second feature.
Humans have a deep need for autonomy, relatedness, and competency in their life. Catering to these needs in UX design can drastically increase user satisfaction.
The reciprocity principle states that people, when given something upfront, tend to feel a sense of obligation to repay what has been provided. Login walls reverse this sequence and require users to disclose personal info before allowing access to content. People often resent this, and may not be as forthcoming or cooperative as a result.
People have very limited ability to keep information in their working memory while performing tasks, so user interfaces should be designed accordingly: to minimize memory load. One way of doing so is to offload items to external memory by showing them on the screen.
If experienced designers want to learn about psychology and how it applies to user experience, should they get a psychology degree, or is it better to learn on your own?
When people think that something is rare or only available for a limited time, they will tend to act fast to secure that scarce item. This behavioral principle can be used in user experience design, but beware of overuse.
People can remember about 7 (plus/minus 2) items in short-term memory. This memory limitation has implications for UX design, but not the ones you often hear stated.
A common problem during user experience ideation is when design teams are stuck on a traditional way of thinking about aspects of the design. Here are some tips for breaking out of such functional fixedness.
An engaging gameplay experience is good design. But there's a fine line between engagement and addiction, which would be bad UX, especially in the long term.
Too many offerings (e.g., products or services) on a website make it harder for users to make a decision due to analysis paralysis. Alternatively, too many options can also cause users to hastily make a decision and later regret their choice due to buyer's remorse.
Users' answers to survey questions are often biased and not the literal truth. Examples include acquiescence bias, social desirability bias, and recency bias. Knowing about response biases will help you interpret survey data with more validity for any design decisions based on the findings.
