Cognitive overload, cognitive bias, perception, isolation effect, proximity, grouping and more. Psychology and Gestalt concepts that have snaked into and become part of a designers' work and vocabulary. A quick peek into what they mean for UX designers. And how to use these (plus many more frameworks) effectively to solve the user's problems, change and challenge perceptions. Plus...

📢 Announcing the first of our DesignUp Conference speakers for 2017!

The Psychology Principles Every UI/UX Designer Needs to Know

Before we dive into the more heady stuff, this one is a quick read with examples. Includes Germane Cognitive Overload, Restroff Effect and, unsurprisingly, loads of reference to Gestalt principles!

The Importance of Cognitive Bias in Experience Design — uxdesign.cc

Think of cognitive bias as shortcuts our brain takes. Think you're objective, logical and capable of balancing all data points available? Think again. Past patterns, time pressures or attention deficiency can lead our decisions and perceptions to be riddled with errors. "But Design can benefit from thinking of cognitive biases as keys to efficiency and accuracy, rather than as roadblocks", says Alicia in this article riddled with some interesting examples.

Designing for the Appearance of Speed

"...Performance, conversion, and brand engagement are inextricably connected. Amazon has shown that each 100ms of latency costs them 1% in sales. Walmart chalks up an extra 2% conversions with every second of performance improvement." Bill Chung on designing for an impatient world—

Are You Solving the Right Problems?

I couldn't help but pair this article with the one above. Its an excellent take on creative reframing of problems and getting to the heart of a perceived problem, beyond frameworks like the 5-Whys. Recommended read!

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DesignUp speaker announcement!

We're delighted to announce that Alysha Naples will be speaking at DesignUp 2017. Alysha is one of the early tinkerers in the AR/VR space—seeing, sensing, creating and consulting across this new, rapidly evolving frontier. In addition, we're still discussing a possible workshop!

As a kid, Alysha Naples wanted to be an astronaut, a dinosaur or a Solid Gold dancer. Instead, she studied design, moved to San Francisco, and became obsessed with technology, interaction, and experience. Until recently, she was Magic Leap’s Senior Director of User Experience and Interaction, a position which felt a lot like going back to kindergarten and getting a PhD at the same time.

Until next week,

@JDallcaps 🖖