Intro
Why do I believe it is imperative for every web designer to understand the psychology behind Web Design? I still find a misconception exists that design is the same as art; essentially that it is all about aesthetics rather than achieving a business aim. This is a misconception which is frankly derogatory to the *pioneering designer. Exploring and learning tools of web design psychology helps us as designers to articulate to clients our reasoning behind the design. I also find that exploring this relatively new area will help you broaden your knowledge as a designer as well as being a first class resource to direct your clients towards when explaining your rational behind an action. Finally remember that as experts in the field of web design we have to have a rounded knowledge of our subject matter, not just be able to paint a pretty picture…that’s what artists do right?! Haha…

* Pioneering design designer -  See my previous article for more info: varieties-of-web-designer

What is Psychology?
Some of you may be sceptical with the whole concept of psychology as it is seen by some as a fuzzy science! But the truth is psychology is a powerful tool which can be applied to almost any discipline. Psychology is in essence a scientific study of human behaviour. Critical analysis is key to any form of psychology. Below is a list (which I compiled during my research) which lists the factors a psychologist needs to consider:

• Perception
• Emotion
• Attention
• Motivation
• Personality
• Behaviour
• Relationships
• Patterns
• The unconscious mind

The power of psychology has recently been championed by Derren Brown who has mastered certain techniques which allow him to control the actions of another individual. Although we all like to think we are unique, humans are predictable in many ways and influencing them is not as hard as you may think. In web design we can use psychology to influence human thoughts, emotions and finally behaviours. Please note that the tecnniques I use are only persuausive rather than assuming total control of someone!

Home page – possibility is more enticing than limitation
The homepage must act as an invitation to the party. Think of ways other mediums use to draw in their users. A book will use a blurb on the back which is a brief summation of the story and also often uses enticing language essentially titbits to intrigue the user to read further. The homepage must deliver a concise and clean impression. On the subject of this it reminds me of I story I once heard regarding a supermarket which was promoting jam. The supermarket initially set up a feature shelf and put eight different varieties of jam on this shelf. After a week sales were poor so they decided to change their strategy. The next week the supermarket promoted just three jams and sales rocketed…the point here is that by giving to many options to your customer you will overwhelm them. Don’t yell at your viewer with eight contrasting voices but instead use one clear voice which delivers a concise message…best represented in a call to action (CTA).

On the subject of CTA’s make each CTA specific and relevant to that particular page as a pages purpose may be different to the sites purpose. Each page must provide incentive to move to another, there should be no dead ends. Essentially the site should read like a book. Andy Rutledge supports this theory and encourages us not to simply rely on navigation as an incentive to view other pages:

“The designer should not assume good navigation provides enough reason for the user to carry on further into the site”

Wording of content
The way you word something has a dramatic effect upon how a user reacts. Just read my previous article and in particular the sub section relating to the wording of sentences:

Site content - How to write gold medal winning copy

The Great White…Space
One of the most popular client mistakes is to fill every piece of white space available. However whitespace is vital in design psychology and there are multiple reasons as to why you should utilise whitespace in your designs. By adding more content and filling a whitespace you can rob the page of its purpose. Take the pioneering designers stance and educate your client…don’t be a backseat driver.

• Adds more gravity to specific elements – I’ll talk about this later in the brand section.
• Humans don’t respond well to clutter - The more options you give the user the more confusion you are likely to create.
• Open space creates interest and intrigue
• Emotional and physical comfort - Open space has connotations with emotional and physical comfort.

In part two i will talk about other elements of web psychology namely eye patterns, importance of brand  and colour theory.

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