The Psychology of Colour in UX Design

Author

Michael Ridland

Category

Design, UX

Date

28 / 11 / 2024

Whether it’s clothes, cars, or websites, colours have a profound effect on how people feel and behave. Different colours evoke specific emotions and reactions, creating a sense of harmony or dissonance. When a website or application’s colour palette is well-chosen, it enhances the user experience and fosters a sense of comfort and engagement. However, if the colour scheme is inconsistent or jarring, it can feel unsettling, ultimately leading to a negative user experience.

Colour choices play a critical role in shaping user perception. From buttons to backgrounds, choosing the right colour palette can significantly influence user behaviour and experience. That’s why it’s crucial to understand the psychology behind colours and how they can enhance or detract from the overall user experience. Colour doesn’t just make things look appealing; it has the power to evoke emotions and drive decisions, even impacting conversion rates. In UX design, colour is far more than a decorative element—it’s a tool for creating a meaningful and pleasurable user experience.

What is Colour Theory?

Though not exclusive to application development, colour theory is a well-established set of principles guiding the effective use and combination of colours. These principles are vital for UX designers, as they help improve visual design and influence user perception. Colour theory revolves around three key elements that create the visual impact of any object or design:

  • Hue – this is the base colour we perceive, made up of primary and secondary colours. In UX design, hue plays a key role in setting the tone and mood of an interface and can evoke specific emotions from users.
  • Saturation – this refers to the intensity or strength of a colour. A more saturated colour appears purer and is useful for drawing attention to key design elements, such as call-to-action buttons.
  • Brightness – this is the lightness or darkness of a colour, or its luminosity. In UX design, balancing bright and dark colours is crucial for readability and creating contrast, ensuring users can easily distinguish between different elements.

To better understand colour theory, designers often refer to the colour wheel, which helps visualise colour combinations and their relationships. The RGB (red, green, blue) colour wheel is used for digital designs and shows how different combinations produce a wide spectrum of colours. The colour wheel is fundamental in helping designers create balanced and appealing colour schemes. Notably, complementary colours, which are opposite each other on the colour wheel, can be used effectively to create contrast or choose accent colours for websites or mobile app designs.

Why is Colour Psychology Important? 

Understanding how colours complement each other is crucial, but so is knowing how they affect emotions and behaviour. Colours carry psychological associations that can be strategically used to enhance a website or application’s design. By applying the right colours and leveraging their psychological impact, you can help your website or application:

  • Trigger Positive Emotions – each colour evokes specific feelings. For instance, red is associated with excitement and energy, yellow with creativity and happiness, and blue with trust and peace. When used effectively in UX design, colours can reinforce brand identity and foster emotional connections with users, resulting in a stronger brand image that resonates deeply.
  • Deliver Memorable Experiences – a well-balanced mix of warm and cool colours, combined with strategic colour placement, can significantly improve user experience. Highlighting key elements with the right colours and ensuring the palette aligns with the product or service being offered can create a more immersive and memorable experience.
  • Drive Sales and Conversions – when the colour scheme is visually appealing and enhances user experience, it helps guide users through the site with ease, improving clarity and engagement. Moreover, the careful selection of colours for CTAs can directly impact conversion rates and sales. 

Best Practices for Applying Colour in UX Design

Understanding colour theory and the psychology of colour is a vital skill for any UX designer. Next, is understanding practical ways to apply colours to a project, pick a colour scheme and ensure the effective use of colours. When working with colours in UX design, you should: 

  • Follow Brand Guidelines – before working on a website or application design, brand guidelines for any business should be well-established. Most companies have specific colours that they use and designers need to ensure that their colour palette reflects these and the dominant colour aligns with the brand identity. 
  • Maintain Colour Ratios – the 60-30-10 ratio dictates that designers should apply 60% of the primary colour, 30% of the secondary colour and 10% of an accent colour to all design elements. The rule helps to maintain colour balance and, while initially used for interior design, is frequently applied to web and application design. 
  • Consider Different Cultures – websites and applications are often designed in Western cultures. However, it’s vital to consider cultural differences and the meaning of colours to avoid any united negative connotations or stereotypes. Colours should always be chosen and applied in a way that accounts for these differences. 
  • Ensure Accessibility – appropriate colour contrast helps people with visual, cognitive and physical limitations interact more effectively with designs. As with cultural differences, colours should always be chosen with accessibility in mind. After all, a significant percentage of the population suffers from some sort of colour blindness or deficiency, and you will want to ensure they are included. 
  • Use good Contrast – contrast within a colour palette is crucial for highlighting buttons and important features, and making text stand out against the background. Effective use of contrast ensures that key elements are easily distinguishable.
  • Keep it Simple – it’s easy to get carried away where colours are concerned, but keeping it simple is always best. UX designers should refrain from using too many bold colours and ensure a lot of white space is used. Using too many colours results in losing hierarchy and everything fighting for attention – it’s back to the 60-30-10 rule. 
  • Test Your Choices – as with any element of design, testing is fundamental to getting colours right. You should conduct tests with real users to gauge their responses to different colours. A/B testing can be particularly useful in evaluating the success of various colour combinations.

Harnessing the Power of Colour in UX Design

Choosing and applying the right colours might seem like a small step, but it can significantly impact the success of a website or application. Colours are more than just visual elements; they play a crucial role in user experience by enhancing usability and navigation. Beyond functionality, colours also influence user emotions and perceptions, aligning with psychological principles to create more engaging and intuitive designs. Ultimately, the strategic use of colour can be critical to improving user satisfaction, achieving design goals and driving success.