Color Psychology in UI/UX Design
Can something so simple as color really affect the quality and usability of an interface? Absolutely, due to the psychological aspects associated with color.
Color psychology; what is that? It’s essentially the study of the underlying influence that color has on a person. Contributing writer to the CoSchedule blog Ashton Hauff describes color as an emotional cue.
“It’s what gets your audience to see what you want them to see, feel what you want them to feel, and to do what you want them to do. Which hues you choose can also affect usability and whether content is readable it or not.”
Usability. Creating interfaces that work well for humans is why the UI/UX design field exists.
Color psychology is crucial to take into account when branding a product or company, especially one that intends on having any kind of presence on a screen. Even if a company isn’t involved in digital products, any touchpoint where a consumer will interact with a brand reflects their user experience.
Lars Lofgren of Quicksprout calls to the fact that a website only has a few seconds to capture their users' attention. Users aren’t going to stick around and complete the brand’s desired pathway on a website that is difficult to understand due to the brand’s color choices.
“You see, audiences online have limited attention spans. They’re powering through websites (and digesting information at a million miles an hour). The only way to grab their attention is to stand out from everything that is competing for their attention. That is where color comes in.”
In a similar vein to branding, colors used in marketing those products are just as important. Judy Scott-Kemmis of Empowered By Color treats color as a form of non-verbal communication. She also points out that the meaning of colors can vary depending on culture and circumstances.
There’s no doubt that certain colors have certain meaning behind them, but these variances in meaning based on outside factors should always be carefully considered. For instance, when selecting colors for an international campaign where viewers are very likely to come from different backgrounds.
Top-notch marketing and design teams understand the importance of color theory, and how to use it to their advantage. Small Business Trends’ DashBurst expresses that color choice is just as much a business tool as a design tool:
“Color can often be the sole reason someone purchases a product. In a survey, 93 percent of buyers said they focus on visual appearance, and close to 85 percent claim color is a primary reason when they make a purchase!”
If you work in or around the UX or design industry, color theory is hopefully something you’ve heard about prior to reading this. If not, intentional color choice is a great way to add another form of influence to your designs that will, when used correctly, help your users achieve their objectives.
Maybe you aren’t someone who regularly considers color theory in your day to day life; I can promise you, it’s still important. It’s 2019 and almost everyone is interacting with an interface daily, whether its an app on your phone, a website on your laptop, or even a self-checkout machine at the grocery store.
In short, color theory is a primary psychological component that helps shape these touchpoints that make life easier for everyone.
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