What Makes Good UI Work: Lessons from Cognitive Psychology
summary
Covers four cognitive processes—perception, attention, memory, decision‑making—and how specific UX rules map to real UI fixes: Gestalt laws (Prägnanz, proximity groups controls, similarity, continuity, closure) remove clutter; zebra rows and card borders reduce scanning errors; Fitts’ law motivates big CTAs and reachable targets; serial‑position and isolation effects guide which options to highlight; choice overload is reduced by 3‑option defaults and step‑by‑step flows; the 2003 opt‑in/opt‑out study shows default opt‑out increases signups; result: cleaner layouts, fewer errors, higher conversions.
AI-written summary · about
chapters (7)
- 0:00Introduction and context
- 1:58What is cognitive psychology
- 3:24Gestalt principles in UI design
- 10:36Attention and focus in interfaces
- 15:20Memory and decision-making
- 22:03Reducing choice overload
- 26:21Summary and key takeaways
related talks
25mIt's easy to create good looking products, but how about useful ones?
01h 04mWhat do your users really see: the science behind user interface design
52mNo Nonsense UI Design
24mApplied Psychology: Psychology-based UI improvements
36mLearn Enough Design to Be Dangerous
28mEleftheria Batsou-UX vs UI: It’s easy to create a good looking product, but what about a useful one?
41mIt’s easy to create good looking products, but what about useful ones
38mThe Psychology of UX