Psychology underpins design in many ways. The study of the human mind lends itself to methods of creative problem solving. Given this, it\u2019s not surprising to know that many Salesforce designers hold psychology degrees. Among them is Aimee Slupski, a Salesforce experience designer.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy background in psychology \u2014 especially the social and cognitive branches \u2014 has shaped my design approach,\u201d said Slupski, who has a degree in computer science and psychology. Many of her colleagues similarly have explored a range of subjects from anthropology to philosophy. What insights about people do these designers find useful in their work and how might those insights help you build\u00a0relationships, too?<\/span><\/p>\n Through a kaleidoscope of lenses, several Salesforce designers offered universal takeaways that would serve anyone practicing human-centered design.<\/span><\/p>\n 1. When people are unsure how to behave, they look at other people\u2019s behavior to guide their own.<\/b><\/p>\n This is also known as\u00a0social proof, a theory that gained traction in the mid-1980s. It describes situations when people aren\u2019t sure what\u2019s expected of them and they assume other people know more. For example: When someone wants to find a good restaurant nearby, they look at reviews on Google.<\/span> \u201cMany times, a design goal is to promote a behavior or establish credibility, and social proof is inextricably linked to this,\u201d Slupski said. Her studies have made her increasingly interested in what other shortcuts come naturally to us all.<\/span><\/p>\n 2. People often rely on biases to process large amounts of information daily.<\/b><\/p>\n Slupski also said that we each consume a lot of information every day. Over a decade ago, a\u00a0University of California-San Diego study\u00a0reported an average American consumes 34 gigabytes of media per day. Today, it\u2019s presumably even more.<\/span><\/p>\n To make sense of all this, people rely on habits and heuristics. The American Psychological Association defines heuristics as rules-of-thumb that can be applied to guide decision-making based on a more limited subset of the available information. That\u2019s what gives rise to biases favoring what\u2019s\u00a0recent,\u00a0confirms personal beliefs, or\u00a0that others will like. And there are even more ways that processing so many bits of information impacts our brains \u2014 including the time it takes.<\/span><\/p>\n 3. The more choices a person has, the longer it takes to make a decision.<\/b><\/p>\n While\u00a0Hick\u2019s law\u00a0may seem obvious, it\u2019s an important reminder to the professionals creating decision trees. Salesforce UX\/UI lead Zack Kirby said, \u201cKeeping UIs simple is critical to user-friendly design. Creating a less-complex experience starts with a designer who can filter the options being presented to users.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Kirby holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in psychology. \u201c[For UX design], there are a number of psychological principles that inform us and help us understand those mental processes.\u201d He also considers how people hold bigger concepts.<\/span><\/p>\n 4. People form mental models based on their own experiences and expectations of the real world.<\/b><\/p>\n We all have our own internal representation of the world. This is a mental model, which is also known as \u201cdeeply held images of thinking and acting.\u201d It applies to perceptions of digital experiences.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBecause users now spend so much time online and interacting with digital products, they have expectations on how they should function,\u201d Kirby said. An example of an expectation is that UX should be straightforward. \u201cDeviating from these expectations could prevent users from successfully using your product.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n 5. Busy designs overwork human brains.<\/b><\/p>\n The brain gets tired from everything it\u2019s doing, short-cutting and speeding through processes. If a design is too busy, the brain tries to parse out what\u2019s most important. If it can\u2019t, all the information can be interpreted neutrally. Many times that translates to forgettable. As a creative designer at Salesforce, Olivia Copsey keeps this top of mind.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI once heard that our brains are made for having ideas, not storing them,\u201d Copsey said. \u201cDesign that is the simplest \u2014 but that maintains character \u2014 will be the most impactful.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n 6. People remember feelings even when they forget details.<\/b><\/p>\n Emotion can leave a lasting impression. While the amygdala and hippocampus also support memory function, \u201cemotion does not always enhance memory.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In her user research, Copsey has seen this prove out. \u201cIt just shows that we need to make design that creates a feeling,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n With a mother who\u2019s been in social work for over 20 years, Copsey has been drawn toward emotion since she was young. After initially going to college to major in psychology, she leaned toward art, communications, and graphic design. Her career has been at the intersection of them all.<\/span><\/p>\n 7. People are motivated by desire.<\/b><\/p>\n Desirability describes how much people want to use a product. Usability can be incomplete without a sense of enjoyment. It\u2019s something Scott Hodgman takes into account in his work as a customer success director at Salesforce.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI work a lot with attitudinal metrics, desirability, and usability,\u201d Hodgman said. His background includes a master\u2019s degree in the psychology of religion, especially underlying perceptions and cognitive dissonance. These themes of inner life and outer behavior are at the core of a more empathetic lens on humankind.<\/span><\/p>\n 8. If someone has a problem, they also have a psychological construct contributing to its continuation.<\/b><\/p>\n There\u2019s usually more to a problem than meets the eye. It could have been forming for years through related and unrelated experiences. \u201cSentiment is a complex construct built up and fossilized over time,\u201d Hodgman said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cConcepts like perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors reinforce narratives about an experience or application.\u201d Much of this may not be immediately apparent to others. It can live beneath the surface or not yet be in someone\u2019s realm of awareness.<\/span><\/p>\n 9. People don\u2019t always say what they mean.<\/b><\/p>\n This might be because it\u2019s difficult to articulate a problem. No matter the cause, active listening leads to better understanding. The ability to observe a situation before solutioning can guide a more relevant, useful, and delightful design. Empathy is at the heart of\u00a0design thinking. So is the ability to connect the roots of a solution back to the key insights of the problem.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou have to watch and listen to see what is really going on before proposing a solution to what is at hand,\u201d said Katie Luby, who\u2019s an account partner on the Salesforce professional services team. \u201cPeople may not always be able to tell you the root cause of a problem. However, their approach to solving it with workarounds can give clues to a value-based solution. You can take what works and make it better.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n 10. The same person can have different goals and needs.<\/b><\/p>\n No one acts the same in every situation. People switch modes of thinking and behavior according to what\u2019s at stake. Something lower stakes might be how you conduct yourself in a casual conversation. A high-stakes environment, such as a negotiation with a big client, requires a different level of engagement to maintain your relationship and reputation.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIn any digital engagement, you have to think about how to approach your consumer,\u201d said Luby, who studied anthropology and human-centered communications design. \u201cIs the need urgent? Or is it something I want to contemplate and learn more about? Those are things that will influence the content and options you provide.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n 11. People\u2019s problems are full of complexity.<\/b><\/p>\n People are multifaceted. They don\u2019t fit into one tidy box. Michael Albers is a product designer for the Emerging Technologies team at Salesforce. Having designed AR, VR, and the ground-based command stations for NASA\u2019s satellites, Albers is no stranger to complexity.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cA lot of designers search for very clean answers,\u201d Albers said. \u201cBut these clean answers often happen through over-simplifying the problem. Sometimes, simplistic solutions remove the nuance necessary for solving a messy problem, whereas a collection of related-but-specific tools can be more appropriate.\u201d He embraces the bigger picture and the whole person \u2014 even when it doesn\u2019t initially make sense.<\/span><\/p>\n 12. Humans have an inherent quirkiness.<\/b><\/p>\n Humans have a surprising way of mentally perceiving and physically moving through the world. If you don\u2019t think it\u2019s quirky, you might be taking it for granted. Isn\u2019t it amazing that people can rapidly detect motion? That emotions can drive physical response? Remembering this supports design work and lets us come back to how humans work.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOur understanding of human perception and physiology has to drive the development and optimization of the user\u2019s experience,\u201d Albers said.<\/span><\/p>\n While much will change in the future, this truth is a constant.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAt its essence, design and psychology asks us to think and consider other people and how they interpret the world,\u201d said Olivia Copsey. \u201cAnyone who thinks critically about how we exist and make sense of the world as humans already has a leg up in their designs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The more designers know about the science of the mind and the psychology of design, the better. This knowledge can be built formally or informally \u2014 from Trailhead modules to reading\u00a0design books. 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