Books, Web Design, Psychology
Meet the Author of Design for the Mind: Victor Yocco
The complete interview with Victor Yocco, the author of Design For the Mind, published by Manning Publications
Today’s special guest is Victor Yocco, author of the book Design For the Mind published by Manning Publications. Before going to the heart of the interview, I would like to tell you, as usual, some background.
I had the pleasure and honor of meeting Victor in an online call for other reasons, and I must say, he is very nice and competent :) It was a pleasure chatting with him! I believe that in today’s world, it is easier to meet people online than before. Just contact the person of interest on a social network, and if they are interested, that’s it! Comfortably sitting in an armchair or on a chair behind your desk, you can easily talk to anyone in the world! Faster than a plane!
That aside, I’ll tell you the background of the interview. After reading the book, I contacted Victor on LinkedIn, telling him that I had read his book and found it very interesting. Victor responded immediately, and when I asked him if he was interested in an interview, he immediately said yes. I sent him the questions, and right after the Christmas holidays, he sent me the answers to the questions. Thanks, Victor!
Ladies and gentlemen, here’s the interview!
1 Dear Victor, please introduce yourself briefly by highlighting your skills and interests.
I’m a researcher who has focused on UX for the past 10 years. I have worked with some of the largest companies around the world to help make their products more usable. I am thankful that I get to advocate for users to using data from actual users to support the improvement of digital products.
My background is in communication and psychology and I enjoy applying principles from these fields to UX research and design. In general, I am interested in social sciences research with human participants. Anything where humans play a key role fascinates me. My skills include qualitative research methods, mentoring and growing junior researchers, and writing and presenting on topics I’m interested in. I also like to think I’m funny.
2 What motivated you to write a book about the intersection of psychology and web design?
When I first started in UX I was transitioning from doing research on psychology and communication in the physical world. I immediatley noticed the parallels of what physical products designers are trying to accomplish and what digital product designers are tyring to accomplish — both want users to use what they create. I know from psychology that we can’t simply create something and hope that people will use it. We need to align the product with the psychological needs and processes of real humans. I saw a need for designers to learn more about psychology in order to accomplish their goals. I started with writing a few articles and quickly realized I had a lot more to say about the topic. I never would have thought I’d write a book on the topic of psychology and design if you’d asked me 10 years ago.
3 What challenges did you encounter while exploring and writing about this complex topic, and how did you address them?
I found it challenging to find the right balance between being academic and theoretical and applied. I’ve always advocated that UX research is a very applied field — we need to show our clients and stakeholders the value of our research beyond exploring theory. However, I really wanted to tell the story of the background on each area of psychology I was exploring. Over the course of creating the book the editor(s) asked me to reduce the amount of background I was providing on each theory. I was disappointed, but I understood that an audience of designers wants to immediately know what the application of each principle is to their craft, versus a history lesson on each principle. I was able to squeeze in a little background in each chapter, but it is far less than what I would have included if I hadn’t had editors. I appreciate the editorial feedback.
4 What are the risks of applying psychological principles to web design?
I am acutely aware that psychology can be used for bad intentions. We risk creating products that are addictive or manipulative if we use psychology for bad purposes. I’ve thought a lot about this after I published my book. I would argue that it’s just as important for non-designers to read my book or something similar. We can arm ourselves against being manipulated with psychology and persuasion if we are aware of how it works and what it looks like. I often find myself reflecting on my own thoughts and behaviors and asking if I’m acting in line with my true beliefs or something like the sunk cost fallacy where I’m continuing to engage in an activity because I feel like discontinuing would negate all the effort that I have put in up to that point, even if the activity no longer brings me joy or a return on my investment. That’s just one example, but I think it’s important to note that these principles apply to most of us in any given situation, so understanding them might make you a more psychologically resilient person.
5 What takeaways do you hope readers will gain after finishing your book?
I hope that designers and those working on digital products would gain or reinforce the awareness that we need to be intentional in our design if we want to accomplish our goals. Getting it right isn’t just a roll of the dice, you need to account for how humans actually behave, learn, and think if you want what you create to meet their needs.
I hope that anyone who reads the book walks away with an appreciation for how complex we are as a species and that there isn’t a one size fits all psychological theory or principle that will work for everyone. I hope that anyone who reads the book walks away with a realization of which principles might apply to them in a positive way, and if there are any principles that they might be able to address to enhance their life. For example, if you struggle with overuse of your smartphone, you might look at the chapter on the Theory of Planned Behavior and examine what your beliefs are related to the behavior you want to change. How might you shift these beliefs in a way that would allow you to engage in a behvior you might find more healthy?
6 Are there other fields where you could apply the psychological principles described in this book and why?
Certainly! I pulled many of these principles from research on psychology and behavior change in other fields. Economics and finance have long used heuristics to explain why people make decisions that from an outside perspective don’t seem rational.
Marketing is a field that uses principles of persuasion to attempt to get people to engage in certain behaviors or purchase certain products. I think this could be extended, and has been extended, into fields like politics and public health where organizations are trying to get people to vote for certain issues or candidates or convince people to be aware of certain public health issues and how to manage or avoid them.
I’d also mention that there is a close relationship with education when it comes to psychology and persuasion. If we want people to learn and engage in behaviors that we consider socially beneficial we need to use psyhcoloyg to address how we teach and make sure that the tools we use to teach are in line with how people learn. I would love to write more about the importance of psychology and learning in the future.
7 Could you suggest other resources (books, courses, articles, etc.) the readers can consult after reading your book?
Generally, any article or book with Daniel Kahneman is a valuable read.
There has been a lot of writing and thinking about applying psychology to design. Some of the more popular books include Hooked by Nir Eyal and 100 Things Every Designer Should Know About People by Susan Weinshenk.
I think that applying psychology to design has become a more popular topic as more people with diverse social sciences backgrounds have become research and design practitioners. Most design conferences will have relevant sessions for anyone looking to learn more about the psychological side of design.
You can also check out my writings on principles of psychology and a number of ther topics on Smashing Magazine, A List Apart, and other UX focused publications and podcasts.
8 As an author, what was the most intriguing or surprising discovery you made while researching and writing “Design for the Mind”?
Just one thing? Haha. I think the process of creating a technical book like mine has been described really well by others, so there wasn’t much about the process itself that surprised me. I was surprised by how much more I wanted to say about each principle than I was able to fit into each chapter. I was intrigued by how often I was thinking about where to find examples for my book. I found myself seeing psychological principles in all of my daily interactions. I would take pictures everywhere I went just in case I wanted to use it as an example in my book or a follow up article.
Conclusions
I hope this interview has encouraged you to delve deeper into the topic of the psychological aspect of the web design sector. If you want to delve deeper into other aspects of the book, you can read my previous article:
Thanks again Victor, for your answers!
And see you next time!
