What is curiosity design in UX?

Curiosity is a behavioral quality in psychology that is integral to investigating motivation and emotion. It is a powerful tool to use in UX design because it enhances motivation.

In 2009, Dr. Kashdan created a Curiosity and Exploration inventory that identified two facets:

• Stretching: The motivation to find out and experience new information and experiences.

• Embracing: The willingness to accept and embrace the unpredictable and uncertain nature of life.

These facets have important implications for UX design. This is because some users are not necessarily using an interface or doing some action for the sake of deriving pleasure through curiosity, but their purpose is to resolve uncertainty.

The study by Dr. Kashdan et al. showed that curiosity is multi-faceted. The results of this study are compiled into a five-point scale, as shown below:

1. Joyous exploration: The joy of learning and exploring new things. This is the pleasure derived from experiencing and learning something new. This is most obviously seen in children as they constantly ask the question, “Why?”

2. Deprivation sensitivity: Unlike joyous exploration, this curiosity is characterized by tension and hard labor. This includes learning new things, and is characterized by feeling satisfaction in learning those new things, doing puzzles, and taking courses for learning’s sake.

3. Stress tolerance: Characterized by the willingness to take risks and stress of exploring new things. This drives people to go on dangerous hikes, and explore unknown lands while tolerating the risk and discomfort that comes with it.

4. Social curiosity: The craving for what other people are thinking or doing. Examples include general gossip and celebrity news, which feed social curiosity.

5. Thrill-seeking: The willingness to take social, financial, and physical risks to experience new things. This applies to activities like extreme sports, as well as to lighter challenges one takes in life.

There are different types of curious people as well:

1. Fascinated: High interest scores in all types of curiosity, especially joyous exploration.

2. Problem-solvers: Medium interest scores in all types of curiosity, especially high in deprivation sensitivity.

3. Empathizers: Medium interest scores in all types of curiosity, especially high in social curiosity.

4. Avoiders: Low interest scores in all types of curiosity, especially low in stress tolerance.

Personality traits emerge from these curiosity types that define how a person behaves.

Curiosity matrix

The curiosity matrix can be utilized in user research design to learn about the personality traits of different people. The ones with a higher score are considered to be more curious than the ones with a lower score.

These scores can help in product design, as design decisions can be made that keep in mind the level of curiosity the target users possess.