1. Designers show what’s most important first.
They do it by focusing on size, contrast, and placement. Not just decoration. Something to keep in mind when reviewing or giving feedback.
2. The brain can only handle so much at once. Designers reduce mental overload by aiming for simple layouts, limited choices, and grouping related information.
—That's Cognitive Load
3. Designers do this because the brain naturally sees similar or nearby things as part of the same group. Is information easier to understand and faster to process. It helps people find what they need without thinking too hard.
—These Are Gestalt Principles
4. Don’t overload the design with options. Too many choices confuse people and slow them down. Designers keep it simple so users act faster. And happy users are good for business.
—Learn About Hick’s Law
5. Colors evoke emotion and influence trust.
Designers use color intentionally—not just for decoration. Color helps shape how people feel and respond, grab attention, and support the overall message and goal.
—That's Color Psychology
6. Fitts’s Law is used to make key actions faster and easier. Big, nearby buttons reduce effort, so designers place them where your finger or cursor naturally lands.
—It's Fitts’s Law
7. Designers make important elements, like buttons, messages, or calls to action, stand out through contrast, color, size, or spacing. This draws the user to notice and remember what matters most.
—Bacause of The Von Restorff Effect
8. Designers like placing the most important content at the beginning and end of a page, list, or design flow, where people are most likely to remember it. This helps key messages, actions, or ideas stick better.
—The Serial Position Effect
9. We Feel Before We Think. Designers use emotional design to create experiences that feel right before they even explain why they work. They choose visuals, tone, and flow that connect emotionally, because people decide with feelings first. Then justify with logic. It builds trust, interest, and loyalty.
—Emotional Design. We Feel Before We Think
10. The Principle of Least Effort: People will always choose the easiest path. Designers reduce friction—fewer steps, clearer words, faster actions; so using the product feels smooth and natural.
—It's Called, The Principle of Least Effort
So, the bottom line:
You don’t need to be a designer to think like one. Knowing these principles helps you give smart feedback, avoid confusion, and keep projects smooth, focused, and on track.
