Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
But psychology doesn't stop with basic functions. Your product might work well in
theory, but is it attractive to its audience? Is it fun? Does it bring enjoyment? Should the
traveler's app look and sound alarming, prodding her to speed up so she'll make it to her
flight on time? Or should the display be totally neutral? When the cook checks the roast
is he surprised and pleased to see a screen giving him precise information about internal
temperature, moisture and fat saturation, and a dozen other factors? Or would that be too
much data, which would only serve to confuse him?
For the user, the product's psychology begins with first experience. This might be on-
line, in a store, in a colleague's office, or at a friend's home. It could be on the street or
in a restaurant. Wherever that experience happens, the product should make a good initial
impression, which starts with perception. When the consumer first encounters the product
what does he or she see? Is it surprising? Gratifying? Does it look like fun? As this impres-
sion forms, does the user get the feeling this product will do what it's meant to do?
Often these first impressions don't involve any direct participation by the potential user.
The best impressions sometimes come from seeing someone else use it. A guy is sitting
next to you at a ballgame and you notice that he seems to be watching a video of a puppy
on his iPad. When you ask him about it, he says: “That's not a recording. I'm looking at
what my new puppy is doing right now. I've only left him alone a couple of times.” You
both glance at the screen and see the pup start chewing the rug. The guy hits a button, then
snaps: “No!” into the phone. Onscreen, the puppy stops chewing, cocks his ears, and leaves
the rug behind. The guy says into the phone: “Good boy!” Onscreen, the puppy wags his
tail. Any dog owner is already smiling. This is a product he wants. Once he gets it, if it
works the way he thinks it will, he'll soon feel that he has to have it.
Though we tend not to think of ourselves as animals, we are. Though we make our own
choices whenever we have to, most of our actions are automatic responses to cues. In each
case we may have decided how to react the first, second and third times, but after that the
decision became a rote response. Like the onscreen dog, we react to the cue by perform-
ing a learned routine with the expectation of a reward. The dog hears the correcting voice,
stops the behavior, and receives his master's approval. We do the same thing. It's a basic
part of our psychology.
The process of cue-routine-reward is called a
habit loop
. This is a variation of the
stimulus-response-reward cycle neurologists use. It's at the core of much of human behavi-
or. Like the dog, we establish these loops because we want things. A good designer looks
at what we want and adapts the product to cue us. A well-designed cue leads us to use the
product in a way that gets us what we want.
