Designing for User Intuition

Your users aren't dumb - your UX is fighting their brain's natural instincts. Ever wonder why that "perfectly designed" feature gets ignored? Or why users keep making the same "mistakes" over and over? Listen founder, you're probably making these costly cognitive bias mistakes in your UX: Avoid: • Assuming users remember where everything is (they don't - it's called the Serial Position Effect) • Cramming too many choices on one screen (Analysis Paralysis is killing your conversions) • Making users think too hard about next steps (Mental fatigue is real) • Hiding important info "just three clicks away" (Out of sight = doesn't exist) Instead, here's how to work WITH your users' brains: 1. Put your most important actions at the beginning or end of lists (users remember these best) 2. Limit options to 3-5 choices per screen (users actually buy more when they have fewer choices) 3. Use visual hierarchies that match real-world patterns (we process familiar patterns 60% faster) 4. Keep important actions visible and consistent across all pages (our brains love predictability) Great UX isn't about being clever. It's about being obvious. Your users' brains are lazy - and that's okay. Design for how they actually think, not how you wish they would think. --- PS: What's the most counterintuitive UX decision that actually improved your conversions? Follow me, John Balboa. I swear I'm friendly and I won't detach your components.

You've heard me say that UX should be invisible, that the user should use the design seamlessly, without drawing attention to itself. It should enable users to interact with the system naturally, without unnecessary interruptions or confusion. Here's how UX could be invisible: - Align with User Mental Models: The design should match how users think and expect things to work. This means understanding users deeply—how they approach tasks, their mental shortcuts, and their expectations. When the design aligns with these mental models, users don’t have to pause and learn; they just act, and the interface works as anticipated. - Streamline Tasks and Remove Clutter: An invisible UX simplifies tasks by removing unnecessary steps and presenting only what is essential at each stage. Every element on the interface has a purpose directly tied to the user's goal. By stripping away anything extraneous, users can complete their tasks without distraction. - Guide Users Subtly, Not Forcefully: Instead of overt instructions or heavy-handed guidance, the interface should provide subtle cues that guide users gently. This could be through visual hierarchy, natural language, or affordances that hint at what actions are possible. Users should feel in control and empowered rather than managed or restricted by the design. - Error Prevention and Recovery: The design should anticipate potential user errors and prevent them before they occur. If errors do happen, the system should offer simple, immediate ways to correct them without penalty or frustration. - Consistency in Interaction Patterns: Consistent design patterns help users build a reliable mental map of how to interact with the system. Use familiar conventions so users feel comfortable and confident. Consistency reduces the learning curve and makes the interaction feel second nature, contributing to the sense of an invisible UX. - Proactive Support Without Interference: Interfaces could offer proactive help—like suggestions, auto-completions, or predictive inputs—exactly when needed, but without overwhelming the user. The support should feel like an enhancement rather than an interruption. - Design for Flow: Design for flow, where users are fully engaged and can move through tasks without disruption. Remove points of friction and create smooth transitions between different parts of the task, allowing users to maintain their momentum and focus. - Functional Simplicity: Invisible UX focuses on the core functions that directly contribute to user goals, avoiding unnecessary features or complexities that might confuse or slow down the user. Good UX is not about showcasing every possible feature but about prioritizing what’s truly necessary for the user’s success. In summary, create an experience that is so aligned with the user's needs, expectations, and behaviors that it becomes an almost subconscious interaction. The user should achieve what they set out to do with minimal thought about the interface.

UX That Clicks: Psychology Tricks Top Designers Use Why do some buttons beg to be clicked- while others get ignored? It’s not magic. It’s psychology Let’s break it down 👇  1. Reduce Friction: Too many options = decision fatigue. That’s Hick’s Law in action. 💡 Amazon’s 1-click checkout? Designed to eliminate thinking. 🎯 Fitts’s Law says: The bigger and closer a button is, the easier it is to click. Spotify’s play button? A+ example. 👀 2. Behavior = Engagement: Smart design adds nudges, not noise.  Scarcity: “Only 2 left” = instant FOMO. It works — Booking.com uses it everywhere. 👥 Social Proof: “1,000+ bought today” triggers trust. People follow people.  Micro-Interactions: Like a heart icon turning red = dopamine hit. Small reward loops. Big retention. ✅ 3 Ways to Apply It Now:  • Simplify menus (5–7 items max) • Design for thumbs (lower screen CTAs) • Test everything (yes, even button color!) Stay Ethical: Psychology is powerful - use it wisely. Avoid dark patterns. Build trust instead. Final Thought: Good UX feels intuitive. Not because it's beautiful — but because it's brain-friendly.

Designers’ View vs Users’ View! You put a baby on the bed. Above the baby, you hang some toys From your side (designer’s view), it looks beautiful. All toys are visible, colors are bright, arrangement is perfect. But… From the baby’s side (user’s view), The scene is totally different. The baby only sees the bottom side of the toys. Maybe it looks confusing, boring, or even a little scary. The baby is the real user. And the real user experience is very different from what the designer imagined. The Lesson: Just because we (designers) find something attractive does not mean users will also like it. Users see things from their own perspective, environment, and needs. If we ignore the user’s view, our design may look perfect to us but fail in real life. Why understanding the user’s view is important? 1. Design is not for us, it’s for users. What looks nice to us might be confusing to them. 2. User’s perspective is always different. They focus on completing their task, not on admiring visuals. 3. Testing reveals reality. Only when we test our product with real users, we realize: ⤷ Which parts are helpful? ⤷ Which parts are confusing? ⤷ What should be improved? 4. Better experience = Better product. When we design for users’ comfort, the product becomes easy, useful, and successful. Final Thought: As designers, we must step down from our own “beautiful view” and look from the user’s side. Because finally, the product is not for us, It’s for the user. #UXDesign #UserExperience #UIDesign #DesignThinking #UserTesting

𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝗜 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗜𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗬𝗼𝘂 - 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺 You understand the data. You know the model, the logic, and the layers of DAX behind every tile. But here’s the reality: 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝗜 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀. Studies by Nielsen Norman Group show that users often misread dashboards when the design doesn’t match how people naturally process information - usually because of poor layout, unclear labeling, or overwhelming information. The takeaway? 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀. When we build Power BI reports, we often do it from our perspective: • “This layout feels clean to me.” • “I know where to click.” • “The logic is obvious.” But for users, the experience is completely different: • They don’t know what to focus on first • They hesitate to click in case it “breaks” something • They don’t trust numbers they can’t trace or explain 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗰𝘂𝘁. 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹. If you want adoption, trust, and action: • Watch users interact with your report (even just once) • Ask them what they found confusing • Use their behavior-not your instinct-to guide layout and interaction Remember - You’re building a 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹 for someone who doesn't live in the data like you do. #PowerBI #UIUX #DataViz

💡Don Norman’s Six Principles of Design Don Norman in his book Design of Everyday Things shares six fundamental principles that guide intuitive, usable, and human-centered design. These principles help designers create products that are easy to understand, efficient to use, and minimize the risk for errors. 1️⃣ Visibility The more visible a product’s functions are, the easier it is for users to understand what they can do. When actions, controls, or available states are hidden, discoverability suffers, and it often leads to confusion, hesitation, or misuse. How to apply it in design: ✔ Use clear signifiers (labels, icons, highlights) to make essential actions immediately apparent ✔ Avoid hiding core actions under multiple layers unless they are advanced or rarely used 2️⃣ Feedback Feedback informs users about what has happened after they take an action. It closes the loop between the user’s intent and the system’s response, reinforcing correct behavior or signaling errors that need attention. How to apply it in design: ✔ Provide immediate, noticeable, and context-appropriate feedback ✔ Avoid ambiguous states where the user is unsure if their action succeeded 3️⃣ Constraints Constraints limit the range of possible user actions to prevent errors, reduce complexity, and guide behavior toward successful outcomes. How to apply it in design: ✔ Use constraints to guide users toward correct actions ✔ Ensure constraints are communicated clearly to avoid confusion (users shouldn't wonder why they can't do something in UI) 4️⃣ Mapping Mapping is the relationship between controls and their effects. Good mapping ensures that the control layout mirrors the outcome, making it intuitive to operate without trial and error. How to apply it in design: ✔ In interfaces, ensure the position, shape, and labeling of controls reflect their function. ✔ Use spatial or visual cues to reinforce the link between action and outcome. 5️⃣ Consistency Consistency means using the same design patterns, visual attributes, and interaction rules across a product (and ideally across related products). This allows users to transfer knowledge from one part of a system to another. How to apply it in design: ✔ Maintain internal consistency (within the product) and external consistency (with widely used conventions). ✔ Breaking consistency should only be done with strong justification and clear communication. 6️⃣ Affordance Affordances are cues that indicate how something can be used—either physically or digitally. They answer the question: “What can I do with this?” How to apply it in design: ✔ Make affordances visible and match them with the intended action. ✔ In digital design, reinforce affordances with signifiers like shadows, textures, or animations. #design #productdesign #ux #uxdesign

I'm not usually one to share my product design 'hacks.' Hope this helps more folks tap into the 🪄 of better product thinking. 1. Steal workflows from industries outside of tech. Architects, game designers, even chefs—everyone solves complex problems differently. Borrow their frameworks. It’s wild how much it improves your design logic and product flows. 2. Every new feature should subtract something old. If adding a feature doesn’t naturally replace or improve something else, you’re layering complexity. The best products stay sharp because they evolve—not accumulate. 💥 3. Use constraints to force better solutions. Limit the width. Limit the colors. Limit the interaction patterns. Constraints make you think deeper, and users will never feel the difference—except that everything just works. 4. Kill unnecessary settings. If a setting exists to “fix” something that could have been designed better by default, you’ve taken the lazy route. The best products have fewer decisions for users to make, not more. 5. Build interactive prototypes, even for simple ideas. Static designs don’t reveal problems—movement does. Sketch out transitions, hover states, and micro-interactions early. It sharpens your design instinct fast. 6. Start with mobile. Not because “mobile-first” is trendy—but because smaller screens force brutal prioritization. If the design works on mobile, scaling it up feels like a reward. 7. Test for boredom, not just usability. “Does this work?” is step one. Step two is asking, “Would I use this every day without hating it?” Usable products get abandoned. Engaging ones stick. 8. Design without data at your own risk. Placeholder content lies. Inject real (or semi-real) data early. Long names, weird edge cases, and incomplete info will blow up pixel-perfect layouts faster than anything else. 9. Never trust the first solution. The first design is often the most obvious. The second one starts to explore. The third version? That’s usually the winner. Keep pushing until it surprises you. --- PS - There are somehow 125,000 of y'all following along. Appreciate your support 🙏 🎁 For regular product design/product building insights, don’t miss ADPList’s Newsletter — my free weekly newsletter: https://lnkd.in/guJJsBaT