The Design Psychologist | Psychology for UX, Product, Service, Instructional, Interior, and Game Designers

Tamara Adlin, an esteemed UX practitioner and co-author of 'The Persona Lifecycle,' discusses the pitfalls of traditional user personas and introduces her innovative concept of alignment personas. She explains how misalignment among stakeholders can derail projects and emphasizes the importance of surfacing assumptions before design. Adlin also shares her five conversations framework to prioritize goals, highlighting how focusing on aligned objectives can lead to more effective outcomes. Her insights promise to transform how teams approach user-centered design.

Join veteran game designer Jesse Schell, a former Disney Imagineering creative director and CEO of Schell Games, as he dives into the impactful world of game design. Discover how games create meaningful experiences rather than just products. Jesse highlights the power of introspection for understanding users and shares insights on maintaining player flow through tension and release. Learn why gamification often misses the mark and how essential emotional arcs and playful interactions shape engaging designs applicable across various fields.

Explore the MAYA Principle, which balances innovation and usability in design. Discover how products like the iPad combine familiarity with novelty to create intuitive user experiences. Learn about psychological barriers like loss aversion and how they influence adoption of new ideas. Hear fascinating stories about how Post-it Notes emerged from a failed adhesive, and understand why pacing innovation is key to keeping users engaged. Incorporate user feedback to ensure innovations resonate, making change feel like a gain rather than a loss.

Marc Stickdorn, a service design expert and co-founder of More Than Metrics, dives into the transformative power of service design. He discusses the critical role of community collaboration and innovative approaches in enhancing customer experiences, using relatable examples like grocery store checkouts. The conversation explores how digital transformation can unify customer interactions and address organizational silos. Stickdorn emphasizes the iterative nature of design, advocating for continuous improvement and adaptation in an ever-changing landscape.

Discover how the peak-end rule shapes our memories and influences design. Designers learn that people remember experiences based on their most intense moments and how they end, rather than their entire duration. Explore why a positive conclusion matters, even in discomforting situations. The discussion reveals the disconnect between memory and actual experience, emphasizing the importance of thoughtful design in creating impactful moments. Plus, uncover fascinating insights from happiness research about our reactions and decision-making.

What’s the best way to choose how you’ll teach something so it actually sticks?Design your next lesson so learners don’t just follow along—they understand, remember, and apply their new skills.By grounding your instruction in Cognitive Load Theory, you’ll gain a practical compass for sequencing content, trimming unnecessary load, and accelerating real mastery.Our guest, Dr. John Sweller, pioneered Cognitive Load Theory during more than four decades as Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of New South Wales. His research has reshaped classrooms, training programs, and learning technologies worldwide.WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODEWhy learners often absorb less when they start by solving problems—and what to do insteadThe expertise‑reversal effect: why novices and experts need opposite instructional treatmentsHow to recognize when learners look active but aren’t actually learningThe modality, split‑attention, and redundancy effects—and how they guide interface and content designPractical ways to balance intrinsic, extraneous, and germane load so learners stay challenged without being overwhelmedSubscribe to the newsletter at thedesignpsychologist.substack.com

Discover how the Zeigarnik effect keeps unfinished tasks at the forefront of our minds. Unfinished business creates cognitive tension that designers can harness to enhance user engagement. Explore practical strategies like progress bars and checklists to motivate users and guide them towards completion. Learn about the surprising power of cliffhangers in learning experiences, and find out when this tension might cause frustration. The insights shared can transform ordinary tasks into captivating journeys, ensuring users return to finish what they've started.

Julie Dirksen, a seasoned designer of learning experiences and author, dives into the complexities of behavior change. She explores why simply sharing information often falls short in driving action. Discover practical strategies for tackling the knowing–doing gap, such as understanding motivation and habit dynamics. Julie introduces the 'elephant and rider' model to highlight how emotions influence decisions. Through real-world examples, she emphasizes tailoring training to diverse learner needs and reshaping environments to make the right choices easier.

Explore how the order of information affects memory retention, focusing on the primacy and recency effects. Discover why we remember the first and last items better than those in the middle. Learn about the common pitfalls designers face when applying memory principles, and how to prioritize attention over mere recall. Get insights from pioneering psychologists and apply these findings to enhance your design, whether it’s a product pitch or content organization, ensuring your key messages resonate and stick.

Bill Albert, the Principal and founder of Greenlight Idea Lab, dives into the intricacies of user experience metrics. He emphasizes the difference between usability and desirability, advocating for tools that measure emotions like frustration and delight. The podcast explores the importance of aligning design with user expectations, using physiological tools like eye-tracking. Bill also highlights the need for deeper engagement strategies and the integration of quantitative research to better understand user insights, all while ensuring product relevance and satisfaction.