You started a business a few months ago or years back, and now it’s time to set up a website for the company. Setting up a website isn’t only about aesthetics.
It’s one thing to get a user to spot your website and be attracted. It’s another thing to get them to explore the web pages for a while and get them to come back.
The psychology of website design plays a vital role in determining whether a customer will make a purchase, and as such, it should never be underestimated.
Below, you will find properties that can positively influence a consumer’s behavior if done right.
Paradox of Choice
You have often had to make decisions from a list of choices and may never have paid attention, but the number of options available plays a vital role in your decision-making.
Have you ever left a web page frustrated due to the number of fields you had to fill or felt overwhelmed due to the high amount of products available on a site? You either got tired of answering too many questions or were confused about what product to pick.
This is where the paradox of choice comes to play. The paradox of choice explains how restricting the choices consumers have can increase eCommerce conversions.
A great example of simplicity in web design would be the Google search page. It’s the most widely used search engine in the US. Because Google only has one field and two buttons, users know exactly what they’re supposed to do when they want to perform a search.
Serial Position Effect
In website design psychology, the serial position effect refers to the user’s tendency to remember the first and last items in a series better than items in the middle.
When used correctly, the serial position effect can help reduce the user’s cognitive load while using your website, which may increase their likelihood to stay longer on your website.
Having the right eCommerce website development strategies is not enough. You still need to consider the serial position effect when building your website, and the following are examples of ways to do so:
Task-related info should be on the same page: Keeping helpful information in one place reduces the cognitive load on visitors. E-commerce sites also have the favorite section, which allows users to save their favorite products without committing to buying them right away.
This helps the site users not remember every product that caught their eye and increases their chances to buy later. In addition to this, you can also add a CTA button in your personalized marketing emails, which redirects users to their “favorites”landing page. You can also track these emails to see how your CTA is performing.
Set reminders with colors and visuals: Colors play an essential role in the mind of consumers. In the UK, the color red is associated with sales, so a red button with the text sales is likely to serve as a visual reminder to users that there are sales.
Avoid intrusive design on a landing page: Keep the design simple because you have a few seconds to grab visitors’ attention. Using minimal effects (i.e., pop-up elements) can favor the recency effect and allow your users to think of your website positively. However, pop-ups can be intrusive if there are several of them.
A great example of a site that ticks many boxes would be Crazyegg homepage.
The home page is straight to the point. The marketing copy explains what the product does and how many websites use the product. The designer bolded the text “300,000 websites use Crazy Egg” to create a bandwagon effect. The input field gives clear instructions, and the CTA tells you what you can expect if you click it.
Isolation Effect
It is also known as the Von Restorff effect: when a user is presented with a different stimulus, the stimulus that differs from the rest has a higher tendency to be remembered.
For example, think of one red tomato amidst a bunch of green peppers. The red tomato is more likely to be recognized by anyone.
The most common way to explain the isolation effect in the UX world would be the CTA button. Designers draw attention to this button by giving it distance from the rest of the content on a webpage, a bright color, and making it bigger than the other elements.
Evernote’s sign-up page is an excellent example of a website that uses the isolation effect well through the CTA button. The green pops out from the background, and the button text tells the user what they’re about to do. You couldn’t get any more effective than that.
Value Proposition
Your brand’s value proposition plays a primary role in web design. The value proposition is a brief message highlighting the business’s unique benefits and to whom you offer them. Before you start designing your website, you need to define your value proposition because all of your website elements will revolve around it, from the text to the CTAs and other visual elements.
For instance, Slack has the following value proposition on its website:
In just eight words, Slack explained why customers should choose it: it makes working together a pleasant experience. Because collaboration between different people and teams is the norm nowadays, you want software that makes collaboration easier – and Slack is the ideal solution.
Because user experience impacts SEO, you need to be intentional about your website design and clearly state your value proposition. If the user doesn’t find something that sets your website apart from the competition, they won’t give it a second look. Adding your value proposition will give them a reason to pause a bit, consider your product, and weigh their options.
Zeigarnik Effect
You are more likely to remember an interrupted, incomplete task than a completed task.
Have you ever watched a series where every episode stopped at a scene with unresolved tension that piqued your curiosity, and before you knew it, you were waiting for the next episode to be out?
You will remember more scenes in this series than you would when you watched a movie at once without a pause or any unresolved tension.
You are more likely to remember an interrupted, incomplete task than a completed task.
Have you ever watched a series where every episode stopped at a scene with unresolved tension that piqued your curiosity, and before you knew it, you were waiting for the next episode to be out?
You will remember more scenes in this series than you would when you watched a movie at once without a pause or any unresolved tension.
Summary
In this article, you have learned the importance of web design and how some effects: the paradox of choice, serial position effect, isolation effect, value-added proposition, and Zeigarnik effect, come to play.
You must have noticed that every effect mentioned has a psychological impact on the user more than physical. It shows how important it is to conduct research before designing. A good web design aims to reduce the cognitive load on users. The more users think when using your website, the more they will get frustrated and leave.
