Positive Reinforcement in Design
Interaction is such a big part of a platform's UX design that is is called "interaction design." Too often, we describe the user experience as monolithic, a seamless, fluid, uninterrupted entity. In reality, that is not the case. A user experience consists of thousands of tiny exchanges between user and platform. The fundamental unit of UX design is an interaction. So how do we create good interactions? The simplest way to do it is positive reinforcement.
When we think positive reinforcement, many of us think Pavlov's dogs, the famous behavioral psychology experiment. It was Pavlov who coined the term reinforcement after he was able to condition dogs to salivate at the ring of a bell. It is the archetypal story of classical conditioning, and the mechanism behind it was positive reinforcement. Pavlov rewarded his dogs with the ring of the bell and was able to form a habit, salivate, from it. In short, positive reinforcement is only encouraging an action by rewarding it. In short, do X and receive something good.
In the UX world, we can use positive reinforcement in two ways. The first, if we are using an unconventional design feature, a non-traditional navigation, or unfamiliar architecture, we can train your users to use and master it by rewarding their interaction with it. The second, and much more widespread, application is to impose it on the platform as a whole. We are not forming a particular behavior or habit. We simply want to encourage continued and repeated use of the website or mobile app in general.
To accomplish this, we go back to interactions, the base unit of our platform. Try to positively reinforce the key ones by rewarding users when they complete them, ultimately cultivating a more engaging, enjoyable experience. These rewards don't have to be lavish. They may be as simple as giving users a clear confirmation that they have completed the interaction successfully. Let the user know when the form they have filled out was submitted correctly. For e-commerce sites, inform shoppers that an item has been successfully added to the cart with a short animation or overlay, or let them know what stage they are at the in checkout process with a progress tracker. Rewards in web design do not have to have fanfare or "great jobs." In UX, the best reward, is often simply information.
It is important to differentiate between positive reinforcement and just providing positive feedback. Do not inundate the user with pointless, saccharine pop-ups congratulating them for every action. It could come off at best annoying, and at worst condescending. Additionally, do not refrain from informing the user when they have made a mistake. Making error messages obvious, and offering a solution, is actually positive reinforcement. Do not coddle the user, just point them in the right direction.
We must address the other side of the coin, negative reinforcement. If positive reinforcement is "do X to receive something good," the opposite can be thought of as "do X to stop something bad." Negative reinforcement means that something bad is already present and affecting the user. Its removal is the motivator behind the action. And while it does work in some applications, it fails in the UX domain. Don't purposefully sabotage the user by inserting a consequence, obstacle, or otherwise malevolent component to your experience to motivate them or change their behavior. Users are fickle, they will immediately abandon the platform.
Positive reinforcement is the main reason behind positive interactions, the building block of our user experience. Each interaction the user makes with our platform, even if it is seemingly inconsequential, such as typing into the search bar or a major process like on-boarding, is another brick in the wall of our experience. We should consider reviewing interactions in key processes like checkout, on-boarding, or conversion, and optimizing them with positive reinforcement.