Preface

Psychology is all around us. It’s woven into everything we do. Nowhere is this more apparent than when you design products for human use. How will users engage with a product? Why do users behave the way they do? Which elements of your design are key to facilitating the behaviors you want users to engage in? Psychology helps answer these questions, guiding you to making effective design decisions. Yet psychological principles stem from academic research and literature, which can often be inaccessible for practitioners. I wrote this book to help you make sense of what we know about psychology and how to apply it to design.

I became familiar with many principles of psychology through my education and pre-design work history. At the time, I was learning how psychology applied to communicating environmental issues to visitors in settings like science centers and zoos. Later, I started working as a researcher with Intuitive Company (IC), a digital design and development firm. I quickly realized everything I had learned about psychological theories and research was applicable to digital settings as well, particularly the psychology of persuasion and influence.