Designing for Behavior

In a rapidly changing digital world, it’s natural to feel the pull on our skillsets, wondering which to grow and which to let go. While some AI futurists argue for abandoning processes that have been refined over decades, we take a more balanced approach. We’re constantly testing AI tools, and while they’ve become a valuable part of our workflow, the fundamentals: composition, typography, and a deep understanding of user experience, remain irreplaceable. In truth, most AI systems are strongest in early ideation, not in producing polished, presentation-ready deliverables. The skill that stands above them all, and will outlast any new software, design trend, or clever prompt, is our ability to persuade. Persuasiveness is the bedrock creative skill.

Persuasion has always been a primary goal in design. When the Romans stamped the face of the emperor onto their coinage, it served to convince the viewer of the might of Rome and their subjugation to it. The impressionists used bright colors and ethereal brushwork to convince the viewer to consider the real world around them, and to consider their place in it. Keith Haring’s public subway graffiti was meant to persuade people to move towards unity and equality by creating accessible, public art in the spaces right next to and sometimes on top of advertisements. But these are all examples of creatives making grand works to sway society as a whole. On a more granular level, designers can create work to influence people’s behavior in more subtle ways. 

Modern design is often a struggle to capture and hold a user’s attention in order to influence behavior. Unlike the bold messages of the past, “submit to Roman authority”, today’s persuasion is far more subtle, in part because of the sheer volume of competing messages. Design choices like conversion point placement, call-to-action copy, and minimizing distractions can guide users toward certain behaviors, often without them even realizing it.

The advantage we have in user experience is data. We can observe subtle shifts in behavior in real-time, though it’s not always clear whether we’re responding to user preferences or actively shaping them. Think back to the early days of UX, when skeuomorphic design reigned and every button or icon was painstakingly made to resemble its real-world counterpart. Then came the flat design movement, stripping away “visual bloat” under the assumption that users already understood digital interactions. Now we’re seeing skeuomorphism return in modern interfaces.

Every shift like this acts as a massive behavioral study. Yes, designs are tested and focus-grouped, but once an interface is released into the wild, the volume of user data is immediate and invaluable. That feedback loop allows us to rapidly tweak and optimize for behavior. In many ways, designing for user behavior has become a Möbius strip, an endless loop where users influence design and design influences users.

The challenge for designers is to balance who we’re advocating for. We may want to affect our users’ behavior, but we have to shift our focus to aligning the users’ goals with the goals of our product. We can have all of the accumulated knowledge about how to change people’s minds from cave painters to the latest version of Figma. We may have spreadsheets full of data about what conversion funnel, brand tone, H1 copy, or button shape is going to get our users to click. If we don’t use that knowledge to help our users accomplish their goals, our design is not a success.

We must acknowledge that users in a product that we’re designing are, for the most part, on our side. The app, or website, has something or does something that they want. We aren’t aiming for massive shifts in behaviors; we’re aiming for micro adjustments, and always from the perspective of improving our users’ experience. If we are aiming for major behavioral change, we should plan on moving toward it through those same micro adjustments. By doing this, we can limit user confusion, maintain user loyalty, and advance the user and business goals simultaneously.

Jacob Trunk

Creative Strategy Director

Jake Trunk is our Senior Product Designer. He brings a passion for creativity, sound design principles, and a desire to provide delightful digital experiences. Jake is always eager to walk our clients through the process of understanding their users, identifying the users’ needs, and creating digital products that help them accomplish their goals. His aim is to always provide innovative and intuitive solutions to digital problems. Jake brings skills in all kinds of creative mediums from digital illustration to website prototyping, and he believes that the muscles of creativity grow stronger not only with repetition but with stretching. Outside of work, Jake can be found in his art studio working on his latest paintings, or spending time with his wife and two small kids.