Hierarchy of Needs in the Context of Design
What is hierarchy of needs and how can we implement this principle to our products?
What do you need right now?
A car, a house you can live in, peace, the money required for your education expenses, a good rise in your career, traveling the world, buying that dress you love, a beautiful vacation photo you can share on your Instagram account, or being healthy?
For many years, psychologists have studied the needs of people and the motivations they develop based on their needs. In 1943, the basic steps of the subject were taken with the article titled A Theory of Human Motivation written by Abraham Maslow. According to Maslow’s theory; The needs of people are unlimited and after every need that is met, another need arises. Unmet needs are a source of motivation that actuates people; Whatever needs the individual has not met yet, he will show great interest in it. After his need is met, he will lose his motivation for that. These needs appear in a hierarchical order.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is divided into 5 main categories, starting from the bottom of the pyramid; physiological needs, safety needs, love & belonging needs, esteem needs, and self-actualisation needs. According to the theory, a person will not be able to complete an upper step without completing the lower steps of this pyramid. If we think through the example we gave above; The person who doesn’t have a safe home to live in probably wouldn’t think of posting a good vacation photo on Instagram. Or a person in poor health probably won’t have a priority to buy a car.
Maslow Principles in the Context of Design
In connection with Maslow’s deep understanding of human needs and people’s motivations to meet these needs, some approaches have been made to create a hierarchical need pyramid in the context of design.
Now let’s think as a user; If a product doesn’t make you feel safe, would it be important to you that it’s easy and fast to use? Do you think a product that does not fulfill its function will allow you to show your creativity in this regard? Which of the two would you prefer, a product that just gets you done, or a fun product that not only works but also makes you feel good?
According to the Design Hierarchy created by Stephen Bradley, who wrote for Smashing Magazine, based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, all needs should be met step by step, starting from the need at the bottom of the pyramid, towards the top of the pyramid, just like in the Hierarchy of Needs. It is not possible to advance to the next level until the current level is completed.
When the steps of the pyramid are ordered from the bottom to the top, they can be explained as follows;
1-Functionality
The first rung of the pyramid is Functionality. We can say that for a design to meet any need, it must first work and meet the basic needs of the user. However, if that’s all it does; In the long run, we can see that the value of the product for the user is quite low.
2-Reliability
The next step is for your design to work reliably and deliver a consistent experience. Presenting a design that meets this need will make your design reliable in the eyes of users and will ensure that your product is separated from purely functional designs. But the truth is; it will not add great value to your design.
3-Usability
A highly usable design should be simple to use and keep user errors to a minimum. When you meet this need, the value that the user attaches to the application will increase.
4-Proficiency
A design that helps a user do more or achieve more, that more effectively meets the user’s needs, will be rated higher in the user’s perception.
5-Creativity
With Creativity, which is the last step of the pyramid, where the highest user value is created, the aim is to create products that meet all needs and that are not only visually but also interactively striking and appreciated.
In this period of time when consumption is increasing and it is easy to find an equivalent for every product, other features provided by the products to the users and the needs they meet are the factors that make the difference, rather than functionality and reliability. As Maslow stated, people’s needs determine their motivation. In other words, we, as designers, are giving users reasons to use our products based on their needs.
The elements that add value to our products and enable us to keep users connected to the products we design are hidden at the top of the pyramid :)
So, where do you think your products are in this pyramid?
