Psychology for UX: Study Guide

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World Leaders in Research-Based User Experience

Summary: Unsure where to start? Use this collection of links to our articles and videos
to learn about some principles of human psychology and how they relate to UX design.

By

Tanner Kohler

on October 16, 2022

Topics:

Bringing psychology and technology together is at the heart of UX design because UX is

people. However, you do not need a degree in psychology to understand the basics of
how humans function. Most psychological principles that are relevant to UX are easy to
understand but make a big difference when applied correctly. Since the beginning, NN/g
has always preached that the best designs are built for people as they really are — not who
we wish they were.

Don Norman (one of our principals) calls himself a cognitive designer because regardless
of the type of products you are working on, what matters is that you design systems
for how people think. The following resources will help you explore and understand
many of the psychological principles that help create the best user experiences and
achieve an organization’s goals.

Resources in this study guide are grouped under the following topics:

Attention
Although most people feel like they notice everything going on around them, their ability
to do so is very limited. Humans cannot focus their attention on everything at once —
their brains automatically filter out anything that doesn’t seem useful.

Number Link Format Description

1 Tunnel Vision and Selective article Users tend not to look beyond what
Attention they immediately notice — even if
important info is right on the screen.

2 Change Blindness in UX: article People often miss changes that are
Definition small and occur outside of their
area of focus.

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 3 Change Blindness in User video
Interfaces

4 Change Blindness Causes article Changes in certain design elements

People to Ignore What frequently go unnoticed by users.
Designers Expect Them to Designers must help users to notice
See these changes.

Gestalt principles

5 The Gestalt Principles for video The Gestalt principles describe

User Interface Design patterns in how people perceive
objects to be related.

6 The Principle of Common article Items grouped together by borders

Region: Containers Create or containers are perceived as
Groupings being related.

7 Principle of Closure in article Slightly incomplete images are often

Visual Design interpreted as complete.

8 Similarity Principle in Visual article Objects with similar characteristics

Design are perceived as being related.

9 Similarity: Gestalt Principle video

1 for UI Design

10 Proximity Principle in Visual article Items that are close together are
Design perceived as being related.

Memory
Human memory is limited and imperfect. The limits of human memory affect people’s
ability to process information and shape the way information is stored for long periods.

Number Link Format Description

Memory capacity and limitations

1 Short-Term article People will remember very little of what they

Memory and see on the web, so designs should aid their
Web Usability short-term memory.

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2 Short-Term video
Memory
Limitations
Impact User
Interface Design

3 Working Memory article Working memory is a type of short-term

and External memory that stores information relevant to the
Memory current task. Systems should avoid straining
users’ working memory by providing ways to
offload information into an external memory.
4 Working Memory video
and External
Memory

5 Memory article User interfaces should not force users to

Recognition and memorize information; it should be provided for
Recall in User them to reference.
Interfaces

6 Usability video
Heuristic 6:
Recognition vs.
Recall in User
Interfaces

7 The Magical video People are able to hold only around 7 chunks
Number 7 and of information in their short-term memory at
UX one time.

8 How Chunking article Present information in meaningful chunks to

Helps Content help people process and remember it.
Processing

9 Why Chunking video

Content is
Important

10 Minimize article Reducing extraneous cognitive load improves

Cognitive Load the usability of any interface.
to Maximize
Usability

How and why information is remembered

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 11 Priming and article Exposure to a stimulus increases people’s
User Interfaces ability to retrieve information that is related to
that stimulus.

12 How Priming video

Influences UX

13 The Peak–End article People tend to remember peak events

Rule: How (whether positive or negative) and final events.
Impressions
Become
Memories

14 Peak–End Rule: video

Use to Your
Advantage

15 Spatial Memory: article People remember imprecise locations of

Why It Matters interface elements.
for UX Design

16 The Power Law article As people are repeatedly exposed to the same
of Learning: stimulus, their ability to remember it increases.
Consistency vs.
Innovation in
User Interfaces

Sensemaking
People are not like cameras. They do not objectively capture information and process it
the same way as anyone else would. People constantly try to make sense of the world by
relying on their own experiences and understandings. However, sometimes these
perceptions are accurate and sometimes they are not.

Number Link Format Description

1 Mental Models article The way people think something

works influences how they will
interact with it.
2 What Is a Mental Model? video

3 Information Scent: How article Users click on links that seem most
Users Decide Where to Go closely related to their tasks and
Next interests.

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 4 Information Scent video

5 Information Foraging: A article Users continue searching for

Theory of How People information only when the benefit of
Navigate on the Web doing so seems to outweigh the
cost.

Decision Making and Choice

Having more options does not always lead to greater satisfaction. Making choices
(especially complex ones) is difficult and requires significant mental effort. Guiding users
through decisions by making things simple will improve their experience in every context.

Number Link Format Description

1 Prospect Theory and article People shy away from situations where
Loss Aversion: How they might lose something because
Users Make Decisions they prefer sure wins.

2 Compensatory vs article People weigh the pros and cons of

Noncompensatory: 2 each alternative only when they must
Decision-Making choose among a small number of
Strategies options.

3 Satisficing: Quickly article In many situations, people will choose

Meet Users' Main the first option that meets their basic
Needs criteria.

4 Simplicity Wins over article Providing more choices and options

Abundance of Choice increases the mental effort required of
users and makes decision making more
difficult.
5 Choice Overload video
Impedes User Decision
Making

6 More Choices More video

Trouble (UX Slogan 12)

7 Decision Biases video UX practitioners are people too, and

Affecting UX thus also susceptible to decision
Practitioners biases.

Motor Processes and Interaction

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Interactions between humans and technology are inherently limited by human abilities
and their willingness to act. To create the best user experiences, systems need to adapt to
people, not people to systems.

Number Link Format Description

1 Interaction Cost article The total amount of resources required —

both mental and physical — in any web
interaction makes up the interaction cost.

2 Why Interaction video The higher the interaction cost, the less
Cost Matters to UX likely it is that users will take an action.

3 The 3 Response video Users expect systems to respond quickly.

Time Limits in Their patience varies based on the context.
Interaction Design

4 Fitts's Law and Its article Users can click on page elements more
Applications in UX quickly and accurately if they are large and
close to their cursors/fingers.

5 Fitts's Law video

Motivation
UX designers must create usable designs, but they must also create designs that people
are motivated to use. However, leveraging what we know about human motivation in
ways that harm people is both unethical and harmful for a business.

Number Link Format Description

1 Autonomy, Relatedness, and article Meeting the three fundamental

Competence in UX Design human needs increases user
motivation and satisfaction.

2 Self-Determination Theory: video

Users Want Autonomy,
Relatedness, and
Competency

3 Three Methods to Increase article Users appreciate the freedom to

User Autonomy in UX Design interact with designs in ways that
align with their priorities

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 4 Why Designers Think Users article Users aren't lazy, they're efficient:
Are Lazy: 3 Human people tend to take the path of
Behaviors least resistance when using
devices.

5 Fresh Start Effect: How to article People are more motivated to

Motivate Users with New make commitments after life
Beginnings events that encourage new
beginnings.

6 Video Game Engagement vs video Deceptive patterns used in video

Addiction games make an engaging
experience into a negative and
addicting one.

7 Social Media and video Social media has become

Gamification increasingly gamified through the
quantification of traditionally
qualitative interactions.

Cognitive Biases
Patterns that describe systematic ways in which people deviate from rational thinking are
often called biases or heuristics. These biases are mental shortcuts people use to save
themselves from doing extra mental work when making sense of the world.

Number Link Format Description

1 You Are Not the User: article People tend to think that others have the
The False-Consensus same views and attitudes as
Effect themselves.

2 The Halo Effect article People judge a person or thing based on

a single observed attribute.

3 The Halo Effect in UX video

Design

4 Confirmation Bias in article People (including UX practitioners) tend

UX to seek out information they agree with
and reject information they don't agree
with.
5 Confirmation Bias in video
UX Work

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 6 The Availability video People overestimate the prevalence and
Heuristic importance of information they were
recently exposed to.

7 The Negativity Bias in article People give more attention to negative

User Experience comments and experiences than to
positive ones.

8 The Negativity Bias in video

a User's Experience

9 The Anchoring article Initial information that a person is

Principle exposed to can affect their subsequent
decisions.

10 How Anchoring video

Influences UX

11 Decision Frames: How article The way information is presented

Cognitive Biases Affect changes how it is interpreted and what
UX Practitioners decisions are made.

12 Survey-Response video Because of certain predictable biases,

Biases in User respondents will not answer honestly in
Research badly written surveys.

13 Functional Fixedness article Becoming fixated on one way of seeing

Stops You from Having a problem makes it difficult to come up
Innovative Ideas with varied and creative solutions.

Persuasion and Influence

Although they may not realize it, many people are not firmly decided on a course of action
until they take it. Psychology describes how people give weight to certain types of
information as they choose courses of action and the factors that can nudge their
decisions.

Trust is foundational to all relationships — including relationships between users and

websites. It is important for designs to establish credibility and win users’ trust to develop
a long-term relationship.

Number Link Format Description

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1 The Reciprocity article When people are given something
Principle: Give Before freely, they generally feel a need to
You Take in Web repay the kind gesture.
Design

2 Social Proof in the article People reference opinions and

User Experience behaviors of others to guide their own
behaviors.

3 Social Proof in UX video

4 The 'Liking' Principle in article People are persuaded by the opinions

User Interface Design and actions of those they like and are
similar to.

5 Scarcity Principle: article When people have limited access to a

Making Users Click resource, they perceive it to be more
RIGHT NOW or Lose valuable.
Out

6 The Scarcity Principle video

in UX: Don't Miss Out!

7 The Authority Principle article Those with recognized authority (in

virtually any domain) hold strong
persuasive power over others.

8 The Principle of article Someone committed to a course of

Commitment and action feels pressure to follow through
Behavioral Consistency with it.

9 What Makes a Dark UI video Deceptive patterns are design choices

Pattern? that make it more difficult for a user to
take their desired actions.

10 Persuasive Design: article Jakob Nielsen summarizes a book on

New Captology Book persuasive design written by B.J. Fogg.

Trust

11 Hierarchy of Trust: The article Users do not want to commit to an

5 Experiential Levels of ongoing relationship and share personal
Commitment information before they trust an
organization.

12 Pyramid of Trust video

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 13 Trustworthiness in Web article Certain design choices have power to
Design: 4 Credibility help or hurt users' trust in a website.
Factors

14 Creepiness– article People weigh the advantages and the

Convenience Tradeoff dangers associated with sharing
personal data.

15 Prominence- article When evaluating users' credibility

Interpretation Theory perceptions, first identify which page
elements they notice, then what they
think of them.

Emotion and Delight

Don Norman said, “without emotions, your decision-making ability would be impaired.”
Emotions play a critical role in daily functioning and determine which experiences will
delight people.

Number Link Format Description

1 Emotional Design video Emotions are an important part

of human functioning.

2 The 3 Levels of Emotional video Humans tend to have emotional

Processing reactions to products at three
levels: visceral, behavioral, and
reflective.

3 A Theory of User Delight: Why article Designs can delight users at

Usability Is the Foundation for two levels: on the surface and
Delightful Experiences on a deep, fundamental level.

4 The Aesthetic-Usability Effect article When a design is attractive

users tend to perceive it as
easier to use (whether it really
is or not).

5 The Aesthetic Usability Effect video Functionality and usability

and Prioritizing Appearance vs. should not be sacrificed to
Functionality prioritize an attractive
appearance.

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 6 First Impressions Matter: How article The initial visceral reactions
Designers Can Support users have to a design affect
Humans’ Automatic Cognitive their subsequent experiences
Processing with it and perceptions of it.

Attitudes toward Technology

The way people use technology affects their lives. Designers must take care to impact
people in positive ways through the designs they create.

Number Link Format Description

1 The Vortex: Why article Users begin with one task and then get
Users Feel Trapped in sucked into "the vortex" by getting
Their Devices distracted. This often causes negative
emotional reactions.

2 Why Users Feel video

Trapped in Their
Devices: The Vortex

3 Children’s Exposure to article Many parents have strong concerns

Digital Technology about the effects of technology on their
Causes Parental children.
Anxiety

Additional Paid Resources

Full-day courses:

Books:

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