Return to Home Page

7 Psychological Principles That Designers Should Know

May 5, 2025 1 min read 0 People Read

To predict user behaviors and shape your design accordingly, here are 7 core psychological principles:

7 core psychological principles:

  • 1. Proximity Principle: Users perceive elements that are close to each other as groups. Place related elements close to each other.
  • 2. Von Restorff Effect: What's different is remembered. Use visual differences to emphasize important information.
  • 3. Hick's Law: As the number of options increases, decision-making time lengthens. Keep menu items limited and use subcategories.
  • 4. Miller's Law: Human short-term memory can process 7±2 items. Divide complex information into small groups.
  • 5. Peak-End Rule: People remember the peak moments and the end of experiences. Pay special attention to these points in the user journey.
  • 6. Doherty Threshold: Response times faster than 400ms increase user interaction. Optimize your interface's response time.
  • 7. Zeigarnik Effect: People better remember unfinished tasks. Use progress bars and incomplete profile notifications.

Consciously applying these principles improves user experience and increases conversion rates.