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ADVANCED UX

UX and the Psychology of Anticipation

Customer experience doesn’t start and end within the boundaries of a screen.

Mike Curtis
The You Design System
6 min readNov 13, 2024

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a woman waiting with anticipation
Hello, anticipation!

Hello, Anticipation!

Anticipation is a powerful, subtle force shaping a person’s experience before, during, and after their interactions with a product. Anticipation, while initially recognized as a feeling, is a psychological lens through which people form expectations, experience emotions, and decide whether to engage with a product again. Anticipation fuels the initial excitement of a new experience, informs expectations during use, and lingers as they wait for a product to arrive or a service to fulfill its promise.

Designing for anticipation means tuning into these layered moments — understanding what people expect, what they hope to find, and what will make their experience feel complete. Anticipation unfolds in touchpoints.

  • Before they ever open the app, site, or product
  • As they interact with it, and…
  • As they close or end it, looking back on the experience

Each stage impacts how people feel about a product, whether they’ll use it again, and how they’ll talk about it to others.

Defining Anticipation in UX

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The You Design System
The You Design System

Published in The You Design System

Helping businesses & individuals apply their UX skills to how they’re experienced by other people. Mike Curtis, Sr. UX Designer and author of The You Design System, has 21 years of experience in design, UX, marketing, e-commerce & sales.

Mike Curtis
Mike Curtis

Written by Mike Curtis

Senior UX Designer / New articles weekly on design & self-improvement / Helping you design the "UX of You" / 22+ years in design, marketing, & sales.

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