Witnessing 50 Shades of Grey 👀

Hi Friend

Over the last 14 days, I’ve witnessed 50 shades of grey.

It’s not what you think. (How naughty tch tch)

What I do mean is 50 shades of grey literally.

Let me explain, and, maybe after this, you too will want to experience 50 shades of grey in a different way.

What do you look at most of your day? (and why you do it)

Whether we like it or not, smartphones and screens surround us.

The most portable and accessible being our phones.

What we don’t realise is the how the psychology of design governs our interaction with these devices. Some of them being:

• The placement of buttons

• The use of sounds

• The choice of colours

Today we focus on that last bit - the choice of colour.

Colours used in apps like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram (to name a few) are a result of psychological research (yes, a lot of money goes into making apps addictive, so you use them for a long duration).

Let me prove it - click here and tell me what you look at first

(If you clicked the tiny bell in the center don’t feel surprised)

The reason?

The colour red highlighting a number. Colour + specificity. This grabbed your attention and sparked curiosity within you.

Almost any app these days uses red as the main colour for likes and notifications. Some examples:

This is just one of the use cases of colour in app design

Why am I telling you this?

Most of us feel bad for using our phones. Truth is, most of us don’t even know why.

Awareness is the first step towards breaking a habit you don’t like. The next step?

Taking action.

What’s the best action?

You figure out via experimentation.

My experiment was ‘50 shades of Grey’ which, basically means, I converted my phone from colour to black and white (aka monochrome).

As you can see, the dullness is evident. The main effects being:

• The red notification number is barely visible

• Everything looks sad

• Nothing specifically stands out (the exact opposite of what it does in colour)

Should you change your life by doing the same?

Honestly, it won’t change your life, BUT it will have some favourable impacts. Based on my experience, here’s what I can guarantee.

1. You won’t like looking at your screen (especially if you use a lot of Instagram and snapchat)

2. Your screentime will reduce

3. Your phone becomes kinda boring

4. You might hate it and switch it back

Should you change it?

It’s upto you. I haven’t changed mine back but sometimes, colour is important (especially when you use your phone for important work 🤷‍♂️)

It takes me three clicks of a button to change it back, so I’m not worried.

I’d suggest doing it for a day and seeing how you feel. If spending less time on your phone is the goal, then it’s worth a try. If not, then it’s okay. I can’t impose (nor should anyone)

I’ll continue mine and see if the benefits increase over time or stagnate.

Will you be doing this? Hit reply and let me know :)

Until next time
Cheers
Rainar