Psychology, Design, and Usability: An Animation Series

Is your website text heavy? If so, your content area likely looks like a big block of indistinguishable gray when you squint at it. Try breaking up the content in smaller chunks and give it a larger heading. Not only does this help your visitors scan the information quickly, it will also make it more memorable.

Got a lot of events listed on your website? If so, your most important event could get lost, causing your users to overlook it. Try giving that one event a different visual treatment that makes it stand out from the rest. In this sense, you’re using design to help you prioritize—and to guide users exactly where you want them.

Sometimes our clients are surprised when we suggest placing one of their more important links at the end of the navigation bar. Afterall, common sense says it should come first. The reality, however, is that the first and last items are noticed more and are easier to remember.

You’ve seen it before: an accordion that stacks and stores information, making it available only when users click to access it. Accordions represent one of many forms of progressive disclosure, which enable you to avoid overwhelming your users with too much information all at once.

Again, sometimes less is more. When we’re given too many choices, the time it takes to weigh them can really slow down our decision-making process. Distill the options to the essentials if you want your users to be able to act quickly and decisively.

Have you noticed that on some forms, the buttons are far away from what you were just entering? Or on a mobile device, the button is so tiny that you have to be really accurate with your tap? Consider that a larger size and shorter distance can make it easier and quicker for your users to complete your task.