All posts with the tag of psychology

16th January 2013 by Simon Norris | Simon says

A summary of the key concepts and ideas from the 5 articles in the meaning series. We human beings are hungry for meaning in all aspects of our lives. The meaning-first manifesto is a philosophy for researching and designing meaningful interaction.

22nd May 2012 by Michael Harris | User Experience

It seems the only people who enjoy forms in any way are those who get to criticise them for a living.

You may also think there to be masochistic form creators out there who enjoy deliberately creating frustrating experiences; but I believe they are simply failing to grasp how many problems a set of questions and answer fields can run into.

27th April 2012 by Simon Norris | Simon says

Most of our decisions on a daily basis will be driven by some sort of emotional factor rather than thinking or reason. We process more than 11 million pieces of sensory information every second. We can only attend to about 40 of those but the rest is not disregarded – it’s processed. As interaction designers we need to learn to dive below the surface and uncover the factors that will help us design deeper meaning.

9th February 2012 by Gemma Savagar | User Experience

Delve into the instinctive effect of similarity and how to break it to draw users into your design.

1st February 2012 by Juliet Richardson and Simon Norris | User Experience

Why should you thank your online donors? After all once they’ve completed the transaction, surely it doesn’t matter what you do then? Having viewed the Thank you pages on a number of different charity websites, it seems as though many charities are taking this attitude.

20th October 2011 by Michael Harris | User Experience

A lot of research goes into understanding how physical disabilities (e.g. blindness) affect users online and how support technologies can help. However many people suffer from psychological disorders or learning difficulties which greatly affect their experiences online, and comparatively little research and development has gone into understanding and designing for these issues.

17th March 2011 by Simon Norris | Web Design

Design is a very complex subject and it has many definitions but one I particularly like is ‘to plan and fashion artistically or skillfully’ (dictionary.com). Design is a highly skillful activity and requires dedication and creativity. Good design is a process and one that is made up of many elements. It is the successful combination of elements that deliver a great design that make it compelling, engaging and ultimately, invisible.

8th November 2010 by Michael Harris | User Experience

In part one we talked about the ‘heartstrings’; how to engage the user’s emotions and persuade them to help your cause. This part will focus on the ‘purse strings’; how to persuade people to translate this desire to help into an online donation.