Ella's UX Theories Blog

The Zeigarnik Effect   Bluma Ziegarnik discovered the Zeigarnik Effect in 1927, which shows that people tend to recall incomplete tasks rather than finished ones. This psychological concept has significant implications for UX design, as involving users frequently means creating a feeling of progress and resolution. Theory Background Zeigarnik’s research stemmed from observing waiters who better recalled unpaid orders than paid ones. She concluded that incompletion creates cognitive tension, motivating individuals to resolve the task. In UX design, this translates to leveraging users psychology to encourage interaction and engagement by highlighting unfinished tasks. Example in Practice  The Zeigarnik Effect is commonly employed in digital interfaces for instance, Linkden's profile completion feature uses a progress bar and prompts like "You're 80% complete - add your skills to finish your profile". Users are motivated to act by this visual representation of incom...

Introduction This evaluation explores how UX principles are implemented through analyses of my four blog entries, focusing on accessibility, usability and ethical design.  Best Implementation: Apple Website Accessibility Apple's website is an excellent implementation of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and reflects core accessibility principles. Its accessibility support page is thoughtfully designed to enable users with visual, hearing, mobility and cognitive impairments. Users can navigate the website with simplicity due to features like scalable text, a strong black and white contrast, and hover labels on buttons. The navigation bar is intuitive, ensuring essential information is accessible within three clicks, while links are both aesthetically pleasing and functional. A feature testing area is also included to ensure that users can customise the setting to suit their needs while enhancing inclusivity and usability. Apples score of 72 on Silktide's accessibil...

An accessible website is designed to be usable by individuals with disabilities, ensuring equal access to information. This aligns with the Equality Act 2010, which requires all service providers to offer inclusive access to their digital platforms. A prime example of accessibility in action is the Apple website, which is demonstrated through its Accessibility Support page. This page enables users with visual, hearing, mobility, and cognitive impairments to navigate the site effectively. Its clean design, contrasting black text on a white background, and well-structured information make it easy to find and use. Users can test various accessibility features, ensuring the site meets diverse needs. Apple implements several accessibility principles effectively. Usability is improved by features like strong colour contrasts, scalable typography, and hover labels on buttons.. The site’s navigation bar is intuitive and ensures users can access essential information within three clicks. Additi...

Dark patterns are deceptive design practices that manipulate user behaviour for a platform's benefit, often at the expense of user well-being. These practices exploit cognitive biases and incentives to drive unintended actions, raising ethical concerns about behavioural change in UX design. One key psychological principle leveraged in dark patterns is loss aversion, which implies users are more afraid of losing something than they are of gaining it.  Designers exploit this by displaying actions as time-sensitive or irreversible, encouraging users into decisions that prioritise business goals over users freedom. A prominent example is The New York Times subscription model, which uses a "roach motel" design. With the help of a noticeable "Subscribe Now" button, subscribing is simple and quick. However, cancelling is far more challenging as users must call customer service or use live chat, which creates complexity. In order to discourage users from cancelling, dis...

ZARA The Zara website reflects Jakob Nielsen's usability heuristic for user interface design (Nielsen 1995) and demonstrates both positive and negative aspects of usability and ux. Using the principles of "Match between the system and the real world," "Consistency and standards," and "Visibility of system status," this blog analyses the website. I choose the Zara website since it serves a worldwide audience, which makes it crucial that it adheres to the heuristic principle by being user-friendly and intuitive. Match between system and real world Zara's navigation, which utilises real-world terms like "Men" and "Women" to ensure user-friendly interaction, resonates the minimalistic style of its modern, sleek fashion brand. The navigation function allows users to filter options by size, colour, and price is highlighted in Figure 1. Therefore, meeting user expectations and improving efficiency by making it uncomplicated for users ...