Decisions
Applying Psychological Principles
Translating psychology into team design principles that guide daily decisions
Key Insight
Psychological principles only create value when internalized and embedded into team practice. The most effective mechanism is translating them into team-specific design principles — guiding values that connect psychology to the team's actual goals. A collaborative workshop process (diverge → converge → refine) produces principles the team believes in and applies. Good principles are direct, specific, and falsifiable — not truisms.
Key Points
- •Design principles are the bridge between abstract psychology and daily design decisions
- •Workshop process: identify team → align on goals → diverge (individual ideation) → converge (vote on themes) → refine → circulate
- •Good principles aren't truisms: "be accessible" fails; "every interactive element must work without color" passes
- •Principles must be specific enough to resolve real disagreements between two valid options
- •Adoption requires advocacy — post them, reference them in reviews, build them into critique structure
Guidelines
- ✓Keep principles to 3–7 — more than 7 cannot be recalled and applied in the moment
- ✓Test each candidate against a real recent decision: did it help you choose?
- ✓Include people whose work will be directly affected — buy-in requires participation
- ✓Reference principles explicitly in design critiques to build team habit
- ✓Review and update annually — principles should evolve with the product
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