the-psychology-affect-on-web-design | Pebble Design

The Psychology affect on Web Design

Psychology is a complex and powerful tool and something you may not have considered before.

You can tap into the subconscious of your customers to create an enjoyable user experience and encourage them to make a purchase on your website.

There are several things you can explore to create a better journey and user experience:

  1. Colour – Colour is extremely important in establishing visual cues for your audience. For example in the digital space, red usually denotes a sale or price cut or suggests ‘stop’ or ‘error’ (depending on its placement). You would use red to indicate your item is on sale, but avoid using it on a general button where you want users to click through. Also think about your target market; if your target market are teenagers, they might be more inclined to see bright colours on a site, however a businessman may subliminally ‘feel more comfortable’ seeing greys, blacks, and blues.
  2. Anchoring or context – The context of your product price can be affected by what is around it. You might think $12 for a burger is expensive, however if you see a burger for $20 next door the $12 suddenly starts to look great. Show a higher number before your product or price to subconsciously make your customers see your price is a bargain! It doesn’t have to be a dollar amount, it could be ‘join our 19,200 Facebook subscribers!’.
  3. Fear of loss – Everyone has an unconscious fear of losing something; you can tap into that – Give your customers a coupon code, but add a time limit e.g. “Your special offer! Receive 20% off for the next 30 minutes only”.
  4. Validation from others – When researching a product to buy (or a hotel to stay at), have you ever looked up user reviews and found yourself more drawn towards the products or places with the most positive reviews? Include some great testimonials on your website to generate a feeling of trust and reassurance.
  5. Keep it consistent (or don’t) – The human brain loves patterns and consistency. Your website and product may be completely unfamiliar to a new visitor – ensure your website has consistent colours, fonts and textures so the customer is comfortable and that familiarity can be established. If you are advertising something, a consistent theme also allows you to break out from that and create an eye-catching call to action button, message or popup.

If you want to find out how you could use psychology to improve the user experience on your website, get in touch with us at Pebble Design.

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