#Behavioral Design

[raffaellopalandri]

Cognition Enclosed: Agency, Attention, and the Architecture of Thought in the Age of Algorithmic Capture

We often think of our thoughts as ours. Photo by Google DeepMind on Pexels.com As private, sovereign, and untouched. But what if that’s no longer true? What if, without realising it, the architecture of our minds has been quietly reshaped by the apps we open first thing in the morning, the feeds that anticipate our desires, the notifications that punctuate our days? I wrote this piece not just…

[pixelizes]

The Psychology Behind Great UX

How to Design for Human Behavior?

Understanding human psychology is the foundation of great UX design. By leveraging cognitive science, behavioral patterns, and psychological principles, designers can create intuitive, engaging, and user-friendly experiences. In this blog, we’ll explore how psychology shapes UX and how to apply these insights to build products that resonate with users.

Cognitive Load: Keeping Interfaces Simple

What Is Cognitive Load? Cognitive load refers to the mental effort required to process information. Too much at once can overwhelm users, leading to frustration and abandonment.

How to Reduce It:

Remove unnecessary elements.

Use familiar design patterns (e.g., standard navigation layouts).

Break content into smaller, digestible chunks.

Prioritize key content for your users.

Example: Google’s homepage reduces cognitive load by focusing on one core action—search.

Hick’s Law: Limiting Choices for Faster Decisions

What Is Hick’s Law? This principle states that decision time increases with the number of choices available.

How to Apply It:

Limit visible options.

Use progressive disclosure for complex tasks.

Highlight primary CTAs with visual hierarchy.

Example: Amazon’s streamlined checkout highlights the “Buy Now” button, reducing friction.

Fitts’s Law: Designing for Easy Interaction

What Is Fitts’s Law? Fitts’s Law says the time to reach a target depends on its size and distance—larger, closer elements are easier to interact with.

How to Use It:

Create large, easily tappable buttons.

Place key actions within thumb zones (especially on mobile).

Space out touch targets.

Example: Apple’s iOS keyboard ensures usability by placing frequently used keys in easy-to-reach zones.

The Von Restorff Effect: Make It Pop

What Is It? Also known as the “isolation effect,” it suggests users are more likely to notice and remember distinct elements.

How to Apply It:

Use bold or contrasting colors for CTAs.

Highlight key messages with unique visual treatment.

Make errors visually distinct.

Example: Dropbox’s bright blue CTA pops on a white background, driving conversions.

The Serial Position Effect: Strategic Placement

What Is It? People remember the first and last items in a sequence better than those in the middle.

How to Use It:

Place critical links at the top and bottom of navigation.

Start and end sections with high-impact content.

Order form fields by importance.

Example: E-commerce sites often showcase bestsellers at the beginning and end of product lists for maximum engagement.

The Zeigarnik Effect: Nudging Task Completion

What Is It? People remember incomplete tasks more than completed ones, which motivates them to return and finish them.

How to Apply It:

Use progress indicators on multi-step tasks.

Send follow-up emails for unfinished actions.

Apply gamification like completion meters.

Example: Duolingo uses streaks and progress bars to encourage daily use and course completion.

Emotional Design: Building a Connection

What Is Emotional Design? It involves creating UI/UX that triggers emotional responses—joy, satisfaction, trust.

How to Design Emotionally:

Use friendly microcopy (e.g., Slack’s playful messages).

Include delightful animations and transitions.

Apply color psychology to influence feelings (e.g., blue = trust).

Example: Instagram’s heart animation offers instant emotional feedback, strengthening engagement.

Final Thoughts

UX design isn’t just about visual appeal—it’s about aligning with how users think and feel. By applying psychological principles like Hick’s Law, Fitts’s Law, and emotional design, you create experiences that feel natural, intuitive, and rewarding.

[uncannydreamer]

24 Jan 2025 🗣💥

Behavioral Design – Lecture 2

Today in lec, we had to name one thing we are good at and one thing we are bad at. That is when I realized I think I am bad at thinking I am good at anything. So my answer to what I am good at was nothing.

After that, we moved on to status quo bias which has three types. Continuity familiarity and comfort. Then came a bunch of cognitive biases that shape how we think and make decisions.

Anchoring effect is when our decisions are influenced by initial reference points. For example instead of saying I expect a salary of eight to ten say ten to eight because people always focus on the smaller number.

Decoy effect is when a skewed reference point forces an upgrade.

Confirmation bias is when we agree with things that match our existing beliefs. Even algorithms take advantage of this.

Availability heuristic is when we base decisions on what is easiest to recall. This is why trauma sticks with us more than other emotions.

Loss aversion is when we are more afraid of losing something than excited about gaining something.

Overconfidence bias is when we overestimate our abilities based on past success.

Framing effect is when the way something is presented changes our perception. An example is saying half full instead of half empty or pricing things to end in nine.

Sunk cost fallacy is when we keep going with something even if it is not worth it just because we have already invested time energy money or emotion.

Bandwagon effect is when we do things just because others are doing them.

Halo effect is when we assume someone is good at everything just because they are good at one thing. An example is thinking that if A = B and B = C then A must = C.

Attribution bias is when we focus on character instead of context.

Self serving bias is when we justify things in a way that protects our self esteem.

Endowment effect is when we value things more just because we own them. An example is how DIY furniture like from IKEA feels more valuable because we assembled it ourselves.

After this we moved on to choice architecture which is about organizing options to influence behavior without restricting freedom of choice.

It involves

Grabbing attention

Influencing decisions

Facilitating actions and

Sustaining behavior.

CMF stands for color material and finish.

Nudges are default options that make it easier for users to find the primary function.

Visual cues make it easier to identify things.

Social proof is when we trust something more because of reviews or others using it.

Reminders help keep important tasks in mind.

FIN. 🐈

[affilinessde]

Experimentiere in der Weihnachtszeit, um die Aufgaben deiner Kunden besser zu verstehen und Umsätze zu steigern. Mit Behavioral Design und Gutscheinen gewinnst du das Herz deiner Kunden im Weihnachtsgeschäft. Verpasse keine Umsatzchancen – lerne, wie du über Gutscheine und Retouren treue Kunden gewinnst.

[ghosted-jazz]

I like to think breaking the canary curse via dying in the void had some effects on Lizzie

[dirty-trash-mongrel]

DID YOU KNOW THAT GLITCH INVENTED LESBIANS

[pngjamie]

I FUCKING WON

I WILL BE REDRAWING N PREG IN HONOR OF THIS

[mooneggtarts]

"You are their hope"

I love to associate Orange (or his power? Same thing) to that of a north star ☆

[stripedstarsblueflags]

if you expect a driver to be world champion material (ruthless, ravenously ambitious, selfish, psychologically manipulative, killer instinct, able to be cold hearted to hypothermic extremes, competitive to the point of aggression, values winning more than anything and anyone in their lives) and also be a completely likeable person that is entirely a you problem

[catsacrossthemultiverse]

pov: you're Loop after I learned that I can show you souvenirs

[muzsmocsing]

This is probably against canon but in my head gods do age, just very very slowly. So Xie Lian who ascended at 17 would look like he's in his mid 20s 800 years later. Why? Because I need Jun Wu to have grey hairs. It doesn't sit right with my soul to have his ancient bitter ass be youthful. I need him to serve that divorced dad midlife crisis realness.

[missescalientee]

Finally revealing one of my other blorbos, Niccolo Sonata! A mixed genre troll who poses as a Pop Idol up until world tour

He's a complicated bag, he's half rock half classical, his mother kind of low-key hates him, and his dad does care but is kind of paralyzed with various anxieties that comes with the fact that Niccolo is half classical (worried about his constitution and his wings) and things related to his mother (she doesn't want Niccolo to become like his dad and puts a lot of restrictions on him)

Both of his parents don't really know what to do with him, and he doesn't know what to do with himself.

He has a lot of internalized hatred towards himself and the two sides of his musical families, plus he is a secret third genre (symphonic rock) which he doesn't fully understand. He got picked on a bit in Volcano Rock City, they're a lot rougher than he's used to so he just kind of took it, which is why he looks so roughed up in one pic and the other he says they hate him in VRC

Again he's really complicated even tho he doesn't look it, if you have questions about him lmk

[plumkluts]

baldi's basics brainrot is real and its winning bru😭😭😭😭

[serpentface]

The polecat is the most common domesticated ratter and companion animal in the eastern Inner Seaway lands.

Their wild ancestors are less solitary than most mustelids, though do not have particularly complex social structures. Females (usually related) will accumulate in groups of 2-10 individuals (up to 30 in exceptional cases of high prey availability), sharing a territory and den site. Males form their own territories, which will overlap heavily with those of females.

The social hierarchy of these groups is mostly based upon age, with the eldest individuals claiming the best den sites and access to resources and mates. Their social behavior includes allogrooming, sharing of dens, and occasional sharing of prey. Their social bonds are not strongly reinforced, however. They provide no mutual care for young (and dominant females are known to kill the young of low ranking females when prey is scarce), and colonies will readily divide and disperse when their population wholly outstrips prey availability. They often move over open terrain in loose groups as means of defense against predators, but do not hunt cooperatively. Their favored prey is rodents, but they will take birds, small lizards and snakes, and the occasional large insect. They will occasionally coordinate group attacks against large threats (particularly snakes, which threaten their pups within dens).

It is not clear where or when they were domesticated. They likely domesticated themselves in conjunction with early farming practices, preying on the rodents that were attracted to grain stores and gradually being accommodated to and appreciated by human farmers. Wild polecats that could ostensibly be their ancestors can be found on both sides of the Mouth of the seaway, and evidence of domesticated polecats stretches back to prehistory on both sides as well. This would suggest either separate domestication events, or an unrecorded crossing of the Mouth by boats and possible human settlement event during the neolithic period (as most human settlement east of the Inner Seaway occurred in the paleolithic and was a long, slow, roundabout dispersal over land).

Domesticated polecats are frequently kept around as ratters. They are not as efficient as cats over open terrain, but are fairly effective with their ability to fit into confined spaces in pursuit of prey. The domestication process has rendered them more inclined towards close socialization than their wild ancestors, and they readily bond with their owners and with other unrelated polecats. Feral colonies are most distinct from wild colonies in that they form tighter social bonds and practice extensive alloparenting, with mothers often allowing unrelated young in the same colony to suckle, and sometimes even adopting orphans. Feral polecats have interbred with and/or displaced wild ones in many parts of their range, and true wild polecats are increasingly rare.

The Burri deity Tingari is the goddess of granaries, and she is often depicted as a polecat, or with one in each hand. Polecat figurines are placed in granaries to confer the goddess' protection from rodents, insects, rot and disease. This practice has been naturalized in many places formerly colonized by Imperial Bur, though often as a general ward against grain pestilence or integrated into native religious conventions rather than as representations of the Burri god.

[spkyart]

au where genya survived the final battle and its now living his best life and everyone cares him

[dirty-trash-mongrel]

girlfriends