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The Science of Happy Design | UX Booth

The Science of Happy

Design
by P A M E L A P A V L I S C A K on J U L Y 1 , 2 0 1 4 in DES I G N RES EARC H

There's plenty of research on ways that technology negatively impacts our lives,
yet very little on how design - an integral part of that technology - might
positively impact us. Pamela Pavliscak, a speaker at the upcoming conference

Madison + UX, shares a research project that shows how a positive design can
benefit our overall happiness.

Somuchofthenewsabouttechnologytellsusthatwebsites,mobileapps,andsocial
mediaarebadforus.Supposedly,technologymakesusanxious,oursmartphonestake
usoutofthepresentmoment,andsocialmediaensnaresusinadopamineloop.A
Googlesearchofhappinessandtechnologypullsuphundredsofarticlesabouthow
technologyismakingusmiserable.Canthatbetrue?Whatifinstead,thedesignofa
favoritewebsiteoratrustedmobileappmightmakeushappyandinfluenceourlong
termactions?
HAPPY, B U T NOT AN ACCIDENT
Assomeonewhoattemptstomakeexperienceswithtechnologybetter,itmakesmesad
tothinkthatmyworkmightbemakingpeopleunhappy.Therehasbeensomeresearchto
showthatrisingtechcorrelatestohappiness,butmoststudiesaredesignedto
reinforcetheideathattechnologyseemstoerodehappiness.Ifyoulookatwhat

makespeoplehappyrarelyisanapporawebsiteinthemix.Happiness,itseems,isnot

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ascreen.

Yet,Iveseenfirsthandthatawebsitecanprovidemomentsofjoy.Iveobservedpeople
smilingattheirsmartphones.Ivelistenedtostoriesabouthowanappchangedsomeones
lifeinapositiveway.Whiletherehasbeenwisediscussionabouthowdesignmakesus

happyorhowgooddesigndemonstratessomeoftheprinciplesofpositive
psychology,thereisnotalotofdataaboutitavailable.

Withthisinmind,twoyearsagoIbegantrackinghappinessanddesigninanonlinestudy,
hopingtounderstandwhatmakespeoplehappyonline.Mycompanycreatedapurpose

builtapptocaptureaneventstream,collectdataaboutinteractions,create
opportunitiesfordescribingtheexperience,andaskquestionsabouthappiness,butalso
easeofuse,engagement,andlikelihoodtoreturntoorrecommend.Allofthesemeasures
havehelpedmetestmyhypothesisthathappinessintheshorttermmightinfluence
behaviorinthelongterm.

ButIalsowantedtouncoverwhatactuallymakespeoplehappyastheyareusingasiteor
app.Thatmeantincludingobservationalresearchtolookforpatternsthatproduceda
smile,anahamoment,momentslostintheflow,oranythingthatcontributedtothe
sensationofhappiness.Lastly,Itrackedsociallistening,forsentimentandconversations
ratherthannumberoffans,favorites,likesorfollowers.Thiscombinedapproachispart
UXresearch,partstorycollecting,andpartdataethnography.

HAPPINESS IS T HE T RU T H
Afterstudyinghappinesson262desktopandmobilesitesrangingfromecommerceto
entertainment,health,travel,andfinancialwith6,640people,Ibegantoidentifya
relationshipbetweenhappinessandbehavior.

Thebestsitesmakepeoplehappy.Thesitesthatpeopleidentifyasbetter
thanothersites,(andtherearentmanyfewerthan5%ofallthesitesstudied),
alsoreceivedhighhappinessratings90%andover.Amazon,Ally,andApple
arejustafewofthesitesthatfallintothiscategory.

Ahighhappinessratingcorrelatestoahighlikelihoodtoreturnandto
recommend.Ofcourse,ahappyfeelingisnottheonlyreasonpeoplereturnto
sites,butthereisastrongrelationshipbetweenthefeelingandthesubsequent
behavior.Healthcare.govwasincludedinthestudytwice,oncewhenthesite
firstlaunchedandagainafewmonthslater.Happinesswasoneofthelowestof
allthesitesinourdatasetthefirsttimeoutwithlowlikelihoodtoreturn

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(about35%each).Afterchangesweremade,happinessimprovedalongwith
likelihoodtoreturnandrecommend.

Sitesthatproducehappinessregisterpositivesocialsentiment.Thebrands
thatmadeitintothetop20happiestsitesinthestudyshowedastrongpositive
trendinsocialsentiment.Yet,thebrandsgettingalotoflovefromreviewers,
werenotalwaysthesitesthatmadepeoplefeelhappy.Caseinpoint,Hipmunk
delightsreviewersanddesigners,butdidnotseemtomakepeoplehappyafter
usingthesite.

Theoveralltakeawayisthatthehappyfeelingpeoplehavewhileusingasite,translates
intoahappyfeelingtheytakeawayafterusingasite.Italsoappearstobeapredictorof
futurebehavior.Happypeoplearemorelikelytoreturntoasiteandmorelikelytoshare
thatgoodfeelingwithothers.Happysiteusecanbeviral!

EXT REME HAPPINESS AND EVERYDAY HAPPINESS

DelightissomethingofaholygrailforUXers.Forinsiders,delightisaknowingnod
clever,shiny,evenalittleselfreferential.Forregularpeople,delightmayactually

springfromanxiety.

Happiness,onlineoroff,isnotmadeupofextremesthough.Thereisahappiness

spectrumofcomfort,contentment,joy,delight,andbliss.

Afterbaselinerequirementsaremet,happinesscomestousinthelittlemoments.
Smartpeopleintheuserexperiencefieldknowthatthelittledetailscanaddupto

betterexperience.Likewise,theseprinciplesplayedoutintheresearch.

Usabilityisabaseline.Withoutabaselineofusability,happinessratingswere
low.Siteswithasuccessrateunder90%,orwithperceivedsuccessbelow85%,
orpooreaseofuseratings,wereatthebottomforhappiness.

Moretimecanlowerhappiness.Mostpeopleusedasiteforanaverageoffive
minutes,arealisticamountoftimedependingonthecircumstances.More
time,orlesstime,hadnocorrelationtohappiness.Butthemoretimespenton
asitewithoutsuccess,thelowerthehappinessrating.

Familiaritybreedshappiness.Thesitespeopleuseoftentendtomakethem
happy.Thereisprobablycognitivebiasinthemix,sinceweknowthatpeople
attachtowhattheyhave,andtowheretheyhaveputeffort.Forexample,
amongtravelsitespeopleratedtheirhappinesshighlyonsitestheyusedoften

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likeExpediaandKayak.ParadigmshifterslikeHipmunkandJetsetterhadlow
happinessscores.

Happynowequalshappylater.Happinessaccruesaspeopleinteract,sothat
siteslikeAmazonwherepeoplehavelotsofhappymomentsviewingthea
productanimation,learninghowaproductmightworkwithsomethingelse
theybought,readingthemosthelpfulreviewsleavepeoplewithahappier
takeaway.

Greaterhappiness,greaterengagement.Whileahigherhappinessratingdidnot
resultinmoretimeonasite,itdidresultisaslightlybroaderrangeof
interactions.Inotherwords,peopleexploredmoreonthesitesthatmadethem
happy.

Anexperiencethatmakespeoplehappytendstobeanexperiencewheretherearealotof
littlepositives.Thesitedidntneedtocreateahugeshiftinexpectations;thesmall
detailshadfarmoreimpact.

T HREE PRINCIPLES OF HAPPY DESIG N

Ofcourse,thesadtruthisthatmostonlineexperiencesarejustOK,andmostsitesand
appsdontmakepeopleveryhappy.Sowhatdoesmakepeoplehappy?Basedonthedata,
therewereclearpatternsaboutwhatmakespeoplehappyandwhatdoesnot.Hereare
threeofthekeyprinciplesofhappydesign,thatanyUXdesignercanincorporateintheir
work.

1. D ES IGN TO MA XIMIZ E A UTO N O MY

Thesitesthatmadeitextremelyeasyforpeopletodowhattheywantedtodo,ontheir
ownterms,alwaysscoredhighlyforhappiness.Thisisespeciallytrueofsitesthatsupport
difficult,anxietyproducingtasks.SiteslikeeHealthfocusonmakinganintimidatingtask
easytomaster.Onepersonsummedupthefeeling,Itwassomucheasiertogetacosts
forhealthinsurancethanIanticipated.IleftfeelinglikeIwouldbeOKnow.Thesenseof
accomplishmentgainedfromaneasysolutiontoadifficultproblemmakespeoplehappy.

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Ehealthframesthepotentiallycomplicatedandanxietyproducingsearchforhealthinsuranceasaconversationbetween
friends.

Autonomycanstemfrommasteringsomethingthatisperceivedasdifficult,too.Alotof
thehappiestmomentscamefromarealizationliketheparticipantwhosaid,Itwasnt
easytofigureouthowtologinwithmycableinformation(onComedyCentral),but
whenIdiditIwasreallypleasedwithmyselfImgoingtoshowmybrotherhowtodo
thistoo.Happinessgroundedinmasteryalmostalwaysledtosharing.

2 . D ES IGN F O R RIC H IN TERA C TIO N

Ifyouwanttogethappier,expertssayyouneedselectivelyvariedexperiences.Variety
andplaybalancedbylowriskarecharacteristicofhappysites.Asitewhereuserscan
interactinnewandvariedways,asonthePNCHomeLendingpage,isgratifyingbecause
itoffersnewwaystothinkaboutbuyingahomewithoutrequiringdifficultnewskillsfor
mundanetasks,suchasapplyingforamortgage,andwithoutcreatinganyrealrisk,such
asincurringahittoanindividualscreditscore.

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EachtileonthePNCHomeLendingsiterepresentsawaytothinkmoredeeplyaboutahomebuyingdecision.

Likewise,sitesthatcreateastrongsensoryexperiencewherepeopleareencouragedto

savortheexperience,scorehigherforhappiness.TheApplesitedemonstratesthis
principle.Asanotherparticipantsaid,Ilingeredonthesite,eventhoughIcantafforda
newiPadrightnow,becauseeverythingwassofuntolookatandthinkabout.Afew
othersitesinthedatasetfitthisparadigm,likeIKEA,WebMD,andHGTV,wherepeople
wereabletosavorthepositivemomentsexploringandcameawayhappyaboutthe
overallexperience.

3 . D ES IGN A S IF WE A R E F R IEN D S IN R EA L LIF E

Inaninterview,oneparticipantpointedtothescreenandsaid,youknow,Ithinkthereis
arealpersonintheresomewhere.Itwasamomentoftruthforme.Peopledontwantto
feelliketheyareinteractingwithamachine,orwithablandcorporateentity.Indeed,the
happiestsitestreatpeopleasfriends,ormaybefriendlyacquaintances.

Authenticityisthestartingpoint.Peoplecaneasilysniffoutcustomerstoriesthatfeeltoo
producedorreviewsthatseemfake,andtheytuneoutanythingthatcomesacrossas
overlyselfimportant.Aselfdeprecatingtonewithadashofhumoristherightbalancefor
onlinehappinesssomethingthatisoftendemonstratedbestinerrormessages.

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NPRstrikestherightbalancebetweenfunandactionablenextsteps,whilestayingtruetothebrand.

Inshort,itsnotenoughtomaptheirjourney,ifwedonthavetheirback.Amazoncame
upagainandagainasanexamplehereforparticipants.WhenImpurchasingfrom
Amazon,saidone,theytellmeifIvealreadypurchasedsomethingandwhen.Thishas
preventedmefrommakingasillymistakeanddealingwiththehassleofreturns.
Whetheramajorfeatureorasmalltouch,athoughtfulgesturemakespeoplehappy.

Finally,peoplewanttheirsitestoknowthem,butnottoowell.Anotherparticipant
capturedthissentiment.ItsOKforHomeDepottoknowmylocation,toremember
whichoneofthe60shadesofoffwhitepaintIbought,andtosuggestthemosthighly
ratedpaintbrushes,butIdontwanttogetnoticesfromthemasImgoingaboutmyday.
Geolocateme,trackmypastpurchases,pullinrecommendations,theyseemtobe
saying,butstillrespectmyboundaries.

Theremaynotbeasilverbulletthatleadstouserhappiness,butasUXdesignerswehave
theuniqueopportunitytomaketechnologyasourceofjoy.Allittakesisalittledata,and
alittleeffort.

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Tolearnmoreaboutthescienceofhappydesign,andotherUXtopics,youcanfindPamelaat

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Pamela is the founder of Change Sciences, a UX research and strategy firm for Fortune
500s, startups, and other smart companies. When she's not talking to strangers about their
experiences online or sifting through messy data for patterns, shes busy writing and
speaking about how to create better user experiences using data of all shapes and sizes.
It would make Pamela very happy if you followed her on Twitter at @paminthelab

R E LA T E D A R T IC LE S

Consistency: Key to a Better User Experience

Changing Expectations Through UX

10 Usability Lessons from Steve Krugs Dont Make Me Think

The Human Element of Websites

A Chat with Bill Gribbons, Part 2

DESIGN STRATEGY, HAPPINESS, USER RESEARCH

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