With their wide variety of, eye-catching apps, it’s no wonder we spend a quarter of our waking life on our smartphone.
But you may not have noticed that these little pictures – neatly arranged in groups like this one on our display – are constantly competing for pops.
In fact, popular apps, from WhatsApp to X, Instagram and Spotify was deliberately designed to draw our fingers to them, psychologists reveal.
For example, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger are designed to look like buttons, which studies show that we tend to press buttons from childhood.
Meanwhile, Elon Muskand X, who I got a new name and logo last yearit has a big X marking the area, like a helicopter landing pad on our finger.
Meanwhile, Spotify The color has the appearance of a fingerprint reader YouTube he has a very central drama image – all naturally attractive tapes.
Dr Anastasia Dedyukhina, digital health expert and director of the Consciously Digital Institutehe said the attractive, vivid graphics make it ‘easier to use the app’.
“Overall, shapes like circles, rounded edges, or shadows make app icons look like buttons, making people want to click on them,” he told MailOnline.
Popular apps, from WhatsApp to X, Instagram and Spotify are deliberately designed to draw our fingers to them, psychologists reveal.
The ‘Facebook’ circled “F” in a square looks like a button, making you want to click on it, while Amazon’s smiling arrow is friendly and looks like a handle on the package, matching their delivery theme.
‘On Instagram, the camera image reminds people of old Polaroid cameras, which feel nostalgic, and the bright colors make it fun and exciting.’
Many app icons have circles, such as Messenger, WhatsApp and Spotify, which tap into the innate desire from infancy to touch spots, but some also have a non-circular shape.
When Elon Musk bought Twitter, he renamed it and change the logo of the program from the bird to the X, which may have been part of the internal process of drawing our fingers.
Dr Daria J Kuss, professor of psychology at Nottingham Trent University, said many programs such as X ‘use simple and familiar symbols that we are familiar with’.
“Mobile apps are designed in such a way that they can attract attention and ensure user engagement,” he told MailOnline.
Dr Jay Olson, a psychologist at McGill University in Canada, said changing the graphics of an app ‘can affect behaviour’.
‘Some companies do A/B testing on different app screens,’ he told MailOnline.
X marks the spot: Elon Musk’s X has a big X marking the spot, like a helicopter landing on our finger. Changing the app from Twitter (with the bird icon) to X (with the X icon) was probably a deliberate move to make it look better.
‘For example, they can test two different image designs in the App Store and keep whichever one leads to the most downloads.’
WhatsApp is a good example of a very cut-down app because the circular button in the middle is designed to look like a button.
Research shows that we tend to push buttons from childhood, even though we know we shouldn’t.
Professor Rachel Plotnick, a sociologist at Indiana University Bloomington, thinks that buttons ‘stimulate emotions’ and are ubiquitous from an early age.
He pointed to Amazon Dash, an abandoned tool that allows users to reorder their favorite products with the click of a button, from Heineken beer to Tide washing powder.
‘Social media is often built around the idea of a “button”,’ Professor Plotnick – author of ‘Power Button: A History of Pleasure, Panic and the Politics of Pushing’ – told MailOnline.
‘We click buttons to order products and order rides, we click buttons to express our feelings (through emojis, thumbs up, etc.), about posts and content we’ve shared and we click buttons to fill out forms and apply for jobs and communicate.
‘Historically, prolonged button-pushing has been associated with entertainment, instant gratification, and fast communication.
Research shows we tend to push buttons from childhood, even though we know we shouldn’t (file photo)
Pushing buttons increases customer satisfaction according to one expert. Drawing, Amazon Dash that allows users to reorder their favorite products with the click of a button
‘Anything that can be done at the “click of a button” is seen as simple, obvious, and important.
“I would say that social media companies like Facebook, WhatsApp, Spotify, and YouTube all play on the joy of this culture and the buttons and our desire to push them.”
‘But this can be very difficult to stop using these platforms, even if we feel like we want to take a break.’
A survey last month revealed The average Briton spends four hours and 20 minutes on their phone a day – about a quarter of our waking life.
Overall, women spend four hours and 36 minutes online a day, while men spend four hours and three minutes online a day, the Ofcom report found.
Meanwhile, a 2022 study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health linked compulsive cell phone use to ‘fatigue’.
Burnout is defined as physical, mental and emotional exhaustion that can occur when you are stressed for a long time and feel constantly under pressure.
TV presenter Carol Vorderman recently said she turns off her smartphone for 12 hours a day to help her avoid ‘burnout’ following health risks.
