UX - The role of color in designing digital products and why it's so important to choose wisely.

Color psychology is one of the most essential elements of any creative work. Regardless of whether you design digital products or materials for printing. In most cases, color is a purely aesthetic choice, and in fact it should be treated with much more attention, especially when we think about the psychological impact on the users of the website or application being designed.

An average color palette may make the design less attractive, and users will have a problem understanding your interface or be discouraged from using the website being created.

In the era of current projects and so rapidly developing technologies, the emergence of newer and newer websites, it is important to stand out from the competition. To do this, first of all, you should learn to incorporate more non-obvious solutions and unexpected colors into your projects.

Psychology of color

The theory of colors and their psychology is a very complex and often subjective topic. However, there are some aspects that are more universal and simple.

The meanings of the main colors, traditional color palettes and cultural differences are simple things that any designer can learn and apply in his work. However, be aware of the emotional impact of interface colors on users. While some colors are "universal" in UX design (such as black, white, and gray, at least one of which is used in virtually every good design on the market), the colors with which they are combined can have a huge impact on user perception.

Of course, the way a color is used can also have a huge impact on how you perceive it. For example, blue used as the base color in a modern, minimalist style will have a completely different feel to the same blue used as the accent color in a more complex corporate design.

Brand identity and UX colors

Brand values should play a key role in creating a color palette. But they aren't the only important factor. Industry standards are also key, as are the colors already used by competitors. Using a color palette that is nearly identical to a brand's core competition is a big mistake as it may cause the brand not to stand out.

Of course there are exceptions and even large brands have similar logotype colors. However, these are such strong brands that have been on the market for years that these aspects do not particularly concern them.

Using unconventional UX colors

The unconventional use of UX colors is a great way to distinguish your brand. And while it takes more finesse than simply combining old colors that a designer wants to combine, it's not hard to learn to use unexpected colors in UX designs.

Accented colors are the easiest way to start adding unconventional colors to your design. For example, a law firm's website may use a traditional navy blue and gray color palette. But add some lime accents and suddenly the project cuts itself off from the sea of other law firms with navy blue and gray web pages.

60-30-10

The 60-30-10 rule is a simple theory for creating well-balanced and visually interesting color palettes. The point is, one color - generally something fairly neutral (literally or psychologically) - makes up 60% of the palette. Another complementary color makes up 30% of the palette. And then the third color is used as an accent for the remaining 10% of the design.

Using this method greatly simplifies your work and allows you to experiment with unconventional color palettes without going too far beyond the expected industry or brand standards. The most important task for a designer is to create a visually attractive design that will distinguish the brand while keeping it within the accepted standards so that the message is understood by the users.

Summary

While color theory is a complex subject, learning the basics is not particularly complicated. From there, designers can rely on their expertise to create more varied and sophisticated color palettes for their designs.

A well-designed color palette, especially with unexpected shades, is not only an aesthetic choice. It can have a significant psychological impact on users, which UX designers should use to create a better experience.