Colour psychology: how to use colour to improve the user experience

The colour psychology is a widely used resource in all kinds of advertising elements. Therefore, we dedicate these lines to show its features and advantages in the design web.

What is colour psychology?

The union of psychology and colour has led to a variety of research into how a colour impacts any potential customer.

Studies by psychologists suggest that throughout life we make implicit associations between colours and certain personal situations. Its use causes a particular business to be linked to particular sentiments.

Thus, the choice of the color palette of the logo, the background of the website or the typography directly affects the user experience.

How to use colour in user experience design

The first step is to undertake a heuristic analysis of the website to detect if the usability is the most appropriate. Then it’s time to select the right colour to ensure the best possible UX. Thus, we can implement the user experience design taking into account the aspects of each color. We develop it below.

The black

It is synonymous with luxury, elegance and formality. It is of great help to prevent the website from falling into general trends. However, it should be used in combination with other colours and with appropriate contrast to facilitate legibility.

The white

Means purity, although it also needs other colours, such as black, to make the site easier to remember. In this case, areas without content are usually left with a white background, albeit with some shades or decorative elements.

Violet

It is associated with fantasy, creativity and imagination. It catches the customer’s attention and is available in a range from the most intense to the gentlest. It creates a pleasant feeling for the user and gives a more personal touch to the page.

The orange

While it recalls concepts such as creativity, it also evokes homey and cosy images. The use of various shades of intensity allows you to turn any website into one that the customer identifies with.

The green

It is common to see something green and relate it to nature or hope. At the same time, it conveys a concern for sustainability and a fresher, younger image.

The yellow

It is one of the warm tones that invite you to have fun, to be optimistic and to be happy. It predominates in call to action buttons and some companies incorporate it as a corporate colour.

The red

It is best suited to express a message of love, strength, courage or warmth. It is predominant in the automotive and leisure sectors, among other niche markets.

The blue

We usually identify it with patience, intelligence, balance and harmony. It is common on the websiteof academic institutions and financial institutions, among other examples.

How to put colour psychology into practice in UX design?

After knowing the meaning of the colours, and the glossary of UX and accessibility, it would be worth analysing competitors. It would be enough to take some screenshots and check what colours predominate on your web.

We recommend avoiding the colours they are using to differentiate ourselves from them. In this way, we make the new site break with the prevailing trend and we are remembered with less effort. Subsequently, it would be relevant to bear in mind the 60, 30, 10 rule that applies in graphic design. It is as follows:

• 60% of the dominant color will be the one that the client will associate with our corporate color. It should be used in the background of most of the pages of the site.
• 30% will be reserved for the color that will complement the predominant color. Combinations and contrasts between the two are permitted, but avoid stridency.
• The remaining 10% will be assigned to a third color that we will use in calls to action or in sections aimed at improving the usability of the website.

Benefits of using colour in user experience design

They are multiple and go beyond the sensations generated by the chosen tone. They are summarised in the following points:

• Color helps make the person interested in a site’s experience more positive. Playing with the intensity of the selected colours helps to guide the customer to specific areas of interest. Sections such as the commercial catalogue, the blog or the contact form can be highlighted to speed up the conversion process.
• Mixing colours (lighter shades of a basic colour) helps the design to maintain coherence. The aim is not to combine colours arbitrarily, but to produce a pleasing effect by avoiding monochrome.
• We must opt for the distinction and simplification of all the elements of the site. The nuances in each color invite you to distinguish the areas of the website, preventing customer confusion. Likewise, the contrast of the base colour with the typography is a priority factor to avoid doubts in those who access the site.
• We turn the website into a recognizable place that fits the tastes of the person who visits it. In this way, the importance of arousing emotions when sending the message we want to convey to the buyer person.

Ultimately, the choice of colours has to maintain a balance between company identity and user experience. It is therefore necessary to rely on those that best fit the personality of the typical customer. We will use them to highlight sections or facilitate access to strategic areas for conversion.

Consistency of tones and intensities and a practical design are the best alternative for putting colour psychology. The ultimate goal is to ensure that whoever accesses our web for the first time have, before consulting any content, a concrete feeling. From there, it will be easier to achieve conversion and, over time, customer loyalty.