Why are Food photos so good for UX Mock-ups?

Doing daily research on new & trendy UI designs is an important aspect of being a UX specialist. Going through Dribble, Behance, uimovement or inspirationmobile everyday, I can’t help but notice a significant proportion of Food-related design mock-ups.

Take a closer look, food images are everywhere else online, from Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest to Tumblr.

Why are netizens so obsessed with food?

Food is human’s long-time obsession

Food is addictive by nature

Those pictures (of food) draw us in because they do hit something really primal in us. — Megan Garber ( food journalist, The Atlantic)

In Neuro Web Design: What Makes Them Click?, Susan Weinschenk stated that a part of our brain is made for survival instincts (anything related to food, sex or danger). This so-called old-brain scans your surroundings continuously and answer questions like “Can I eat it?, can I have sex with it?, can it kill me?”. This scanning process might or might not be necessarily relevant to your needs at the moment. In other words, your brain will notice food whether you are hungry or not.

Online Food photos are simply irresistible

In an era where perfect images and unrealistic expectations dominate many corners of life; more often than not, photos on social media are heavily-retouched and highly-Photoshoped. The results, in turn, become even more irresistible to viewers.

So much irresistible that the phrase “Food Porn” seem to be perfectly fit to describe the obsession.

Conclusion

Since the dawn of time, humans have always been attracted to food. Over the last 40000 years of evolution and 100 years of advanced technology development, a part of our brain has always stayed the same. That’s why it kindda makes sense food photos show up everywhere on the internet.

Knowing this certainly can help gain some insights for your next marketing campaigns or application ideas. For me, I know exactly what types of photos to be considered in the next mock-up. I’m sure they will be eye-catching.

Further reading:

Lower, C. (2016) Why you’re secretly addicted to food porn. Available at: http://kernelmag.dailydot.com/issue-sections/staff-editorials/10853/food-porn-psychology-addiction/

Weinschenk, S. (2012) 100 things every presenter needs to know about people. Berkeley, CA: New Riders Publishing.