A theory in economics assumes that individuals make rational decisions and choices to derive the highest amount of personal utility. But if you’ve ever bought something on an impulse, you’d know that factors other than rational calculations often affect your behaviour or consumption. While it may not seem obvious, design psychology has a direct influence on the buying decisions that people make. Let’s delve into why good design translates to good business.
The Principles of Design
Good design comes from principles of design that help our brains analyze visual cues effectively. For a visual experience to make sense to the consumer and engage them, there are some basic universal principles of design that can be employed in creative designs. Factors such as balance, rhythm, movement, hierarchy, contrast, patter, white space, etc should coalesce and help persuade the end user.
“Good design translates to good business.“
The Gestalt principles of design are principles of human perception from German psychological theory that describe how humans recognize patterns, simplify complex images and group similar elements. These principles can be used as a guiding tool to understand how we interpret visual information and how our brain naturally sees structure and pattern. Implementing these principles of closure, organization, perception, and more can add significant value in communicating the desired information to consumers.
Some examples could be simply using contrasting colours to highlight some information, grouping useful information together or using symmetry to make the scrolling process on a website much easier. The right design can influence consumer decisions by working along with the brain’s innate process and not against it.
Designing a Product Holistically
The sheer flux of competing brands and products have empowered low-income households to base their purchasing decisions on not only their affordability but on the quality, form and functionality of products among other aspects. In different cultures, the same color might have various interpretations and/or associations. In consequence, these need to be considered, particularly at the time of entering a new region and/or introducing a new product/service.
Designing a product is a process of creative problem-solving. Usually, it considers not only the technological constraints and aesthetics but also the consumer’s needs. Your design should have the following 5 aspects – functionality, aesthetics, durability, sustainability, and affordability.
Audience feedback is a powerful alternative to understanding if a product has a user-centered design or not. As a result, systematic data collection can provide valuable feedback and information to help redirect a product design to the customers’ needs.
Understanding Cultures
Multicultural research stresses the importance of understanding the cultural interpretations and/or associations of color in product design, as these may result from century-old traditions, contemporary influences, religious beliefs, and political and historical developments and form the cultural foundation of a country or people. While numerous studies are attempting to discover how consumers behave at a point of purchase (POP), design plays a massive role in influencing decisions.
“Design influences consumer decision-making at the point of purchase.“
Emotional design or sensory design may allow for more authentic results to help influence consumer behaviour. If designers can design with the intent to change consumer behaviour using more genuine methods of research, then behaviour can be predicted and influenced. Numerous examples of how design evokes emotions and influences consumer behaviour, suggest that design influences consumer decision-making at the point of purchase.
Therefore, the design and presentation play a crucial role in the consumers decision-making process. Pick your colors, fonts, style and content very carefully as consumers look at every aspect when they are spending their money and with growing competition, it is important to get everything right to rule the roost!
