If Maslow Designed UX
Maslow’s hierarchical needs v. user journey phases
Human-Centered Design is a hot topic.
But how well do we really understand humans? To better understand humans, it is essential to review Abraham Maslow’s (1943) theory of human motivation and hierarchical needs.
Oh, yeah! It’s that pyramid thing -from Psych 101.
… “The physiological needs and the consummatory behavior involved with them serve as channels for all sorts of other needs as well. That is to say, the person who thinks he or she is hungry may actually be seeking more for comfort, or dependence, than for vitamins or proteins. Conversely, it is possible to satisfy the hunger need in part by other activities such as drinking water or smoking cigarettes. In other words, relatively isolable as these physiological needs are, they are not completely so. Undoubtedly these physiological needs are the most proponent of all needs. What this means specifically is that in the human being who is missing everything in life in an extreme fashion, it is most likely that the major motivation would be the physiological needs rather than any others. A person who is lacking food, safety, love, and esteem would most probably hunger for food more strongly than for anything else (Maslow, 1956; p. 16).
To better understand user behavior, it helps to be familiar with some basics in psychological motivation. I am excited to see what happens when I mix the principles of psychology with the practice of service design. I bet there will be some interesting results.
-Originally from upstate NY, now practicing Service Design in the Nordics. The material that I share is part of the development process for completing thesis work in user-centric service design. Published/ public references and cited materials are available upon request.
Cheers!
Andrew Chapman
www.apchapman.com
