On average, people are constantly struggling for control of their surroundings. Our DNA has programmed us to crave control over our environments… because it offers comfort! When things feel out of our control, our bodies may respond sharply with negative stress, until we can remedy the situation. So how does this affect the expectation of control in Web Design UX?
This neurological response is the same regardless of the trigger. For example, if you lose control of a relationship or that rude driver knocks you off your zen driving cloud, you’re likely to react in the same way – negative stress. For businesses, [pullquote]understanding the human need for control offers a powerful tool for enhancing your customers’ experience.[/pullquote] One example that you’ve probably come across yourself is the auto-play ad or video when visiting a website.
I recently helped a large publisher analyze customer behavior on their website. The organization wanted to push video content by having it play automatically on their homepage. Yes, the video offered valuable & interesting content, but the business hadn’t considered the jarring effect it had on customers. It made them feel a loss of control! What we found when we studied customer behavior is that they tended to click the “pause” button as soon as they encountered the video, or closed the site entirely. The efforts of the business to force this video, actually created the opposite effect they had desired.
This response can be explained by a psychological effect called the expectation factor. People go into situations expecting a specific thing. This effect applies to all aspects of life, including interactions with your company or brand. You go to a job interview and expect the hiring manager to ask certain questions. You go to a birthday party and expect to eat certain foods and have a certain level of fun.
Manage Expectations
When customers visit your website(s), the expectation factor is at play. If you present your customers with an experience that strays too much from what they’ve anticipated, they will feel a loss of control… and will do what is necessary to regain control. Perhaps this means completely ignoring that video that you spend thousands to produce. Or they exit your site entirely, and more onto a competitor! There is indeed an expectation of control in web design UX.
In order to manage this relationship between websites and customers, it is important to understand the power of perceived control. [pullquote]Visitors like to think they are in charge of their actions.[/pullquote] When a video plays without visitors initiating any interaction, they feel the opposite. If a customer feels that a website is trying to “sell” them something, or push them into viewing certain content without permission, they will resist by trying to take back the interaction and intentionally avoid that content. This occurs deep within our subconscious and triggers biochemical prods that are part of a primitive neurological mechanism.
The Stress Response
Why do we react so strongly to such stimuli? The reasons are rooted in our deepest DNA. The first humans had to be constantly on alert for changes in their environment, because unexpected sounds or sights meant only one thing: danger. When we click on a website hoping to read an article and instead are confronted with a loud/flashy video, the automatic response is no different than our ancestors, walking in the forest and stumbling upon a lion.
Our body reacts first to eliminate the stressor, and then (because we have an inner need to be sure our thoughts & behaviors are consistent) we then subconsciously rationalize our decision. “If I stopped the video, it must not be interesting.”. By forcing the video upon your customers instead of letting them choose to click “play,” the business significantly decreased the chances of anyone ever seeing their carefully crafted message and branding!
Auto-play videos are not the only web item that promotes stress response. Visitors also start to feel control slipping from their hands when they encounter very long web pages, lack of clear navigation, and pop-up ads. scrolling. Websites that harness an understanding of human psychology can avoid such situations. Employ sticky navigation (menus that stay in a familiar place as the customer browses) is one example.
Remember, the need for control is rooted deeply within us and has a subconscious impact on our online behavior too.
Thanks for reading! While you’re here, don’t forget to visit my portfolio.
As a consultant, entrepreneur and artist, he offers design & marketing expertise to anyone willing to listen to him ramble like a mad scientist. In his spare time, Tom likes to work with his hands – painting works of art, fixing up old cars & old houses.
Check out his LinkedIn profile for more information!
- Expectation of Control in Web Design UX - June 16, 2015
- Quickly & Easily Boost Conversions - May 14, 2015
- Analyze Categories In WordPress - April 29, 2015
Hello Web Admin, I noticed that your On-Page SEO is is missing a few factors, for one you do not use all three H tags in your post, also I notice that you are not using bold or italics properly in your SEO optimization. On-Page SEO means more now than ever since the new Google update: Panda. No longer are backlinks and simply pinging or sending out a RSS feed the key to getting Google PageRank or Alexa Rankings, You now NEED On-Page SEO. So what is good On-Page SEO?First your keyword must appear in the title.Then it must appear in the URL.You have to optimize your keyword and make sure that it has a nice keyword density of 3-5% in your article with relevant LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing). Then you should spread all H1,H2,H3 tags in your article.Your Keyword should appear in your first paragraph and in the last sentence of the page. You should have relevant usage of Bold and italics of your keyword.There should be one internal link to a page on your blog and you should have one image with an alt tag that has your keyword.
Thank you for your thoughts!
With regards to Heading tags, you aren’t required to use all (H1 through H6). Make sure H1 is used first, of course, but after that you’re free to do as you wish (as long as you don’t use another H1 on that page). Yoast’s opinion on Heading tags in general is that, “the value is less than it was, but headings still help Google to grasp the main topics of a long post . . . Google might scan your post as well and why not make that as easy as possible?”
Fantastic blog! Do you have any helpful hints for aspiring writers?
I’m planning to start my own blog soon but I’m a little lost
on everything. Would you suggest starting with a free
platform like WordPress or go for a paid option? There are so many options
out there that I’m totally overwhelmed .. Any recommendations?
Thank you!
I am not sure that I like where the gaming industry is
going these days.
Great article.
Wow, wonderful blog layout! How long have
you been blogging for? you make blogging look easy.
The overall look of your site is excellent,
as well as the content!
Awesome issues here. I’m very happy to look your article.
Thanks so much and I’m having a look forward to touch you.
Will you please drop me a e-mail?
Just Google the phrase “page rank checker”, and you will find them.
This will bring up all forum sites inside search results.
Be sure to place your keywords at the start of the Title Tag.
Hi would you mind letting me know which webhost you’re using?
I’ve loaded your blog in 3 completely different browsers and I must
say this blog loads a lot quicker then most. Can you suggest
a good internet hosting provider at a honest price?
Many thanks, I appreciate it!
regards for helping out exactly what i was looking for truly amazing really enjoyed studying
Can I just say what a relief to find someone who actually knows what theyre talking about on the internet. You definitely know how you can convey a difficulty to gentle and make it important. More people must learn this and perceive this aspect of the story. I cant consider youre no more popular because you positively have the gift.
Wow! In the end I got a weblog from where I be capable of genuinely obtain helpful data
regarding my study and knowledge.
Hey there, You have performed an excellent job. I will definitely digg it and in my opinion recommend to my friends.
I’m confident they’ll be benefited from this site.
Hello! Cool post, amazing!!!