User Profile UI – The Power of Faces in Design

Faces in UI – A Magnet for Attention

Sharing another UI design – a user profile in a creative community app. In this project, I focused on faces.

Faces in interfaces are powerful attention anchors. Eye-tracking studies show that users’ gaze almost always lands on a person’s image first, even when there are many other elements on the screen. This is rooted in evolution – our brains are wired to recognize faces instantly.

That’s why designers often use faces in UI to guide attention. For example, a person’s gaze in an image can direct users toward important content. This technique has long been used in advertising – if a person in a photo looks at a product, viewers are more likely to focus on the product too.

It’s crucial that faces in UI serve a purpose. They can guide the user’s eyes, amplify emotions, or build trust. But if they’re just filling space, they do more harm than good.