Laws of UX: Using Psychology to Design Better Products and Services

An understanding of psychology-specifically the psychology behind how users behave and interact with digital interfaces-is perhaps the single most valuable nondesign skill a designer can have. The most elegant design can fail if it forces users to conform to the design rather than working within the "blueprint" of how humans perceive and process the world around them.

This practical guide explains how you can apply key principles in psychology to build products and experiences that are more intuitive and human-centered. Author Jon Yablonski deconstructs familiar apps and experiences to provide clear examples of how UX designers can build experiences that adapt to how users perceive and process digital interfaces.

You'll learn:

• How aesthetically pleasing design creates positive responses
• The principles from psychology most useful for designers
• How these psychology principles relate to UX heuristics
• Predictive models including Fitts's law, Jakob's law, and Hick's law
• Ethical implications of using psychology in design
• A framework for applying these principles

Jon Yablonski is an award-winning digital designer and a senior product designer working on the next generation of in-vehicle interactive experiences at General Motors. His passion lies at the intersection of interaction design and development. Jon writes about his design experiences for publications including A List Apart, Smashing Magazine, and CSS Tricks.