How Psychology Can Help You Design Better Email Layouts

Before anyone reads your email, their brain is already working—filtering, scanning, and reacting in milliseconds. To create emails that genuinely connect, you first need to understand how the brain perceives, prioritizes, and remembers visual information. Let’s break down what actually happens inside the mind the moment someone opens your email.

The brain's ability to recognize visual cues such as color, size, and orientation occurs within just 200 milliseconds. This means that a call-to-action (CTA) button that stands out in color and size will attract attention before a subscriber even begins reading.

On desktops, people scan across the top, then down the left, sometimes across again—forming an “F.” On mobile devices, they zig-zag through the content in a “Z” shape. To accommodate this, it’s smart to place your logo and main headline in the upper-left area and save the CTA for the last part of that path, where the eyes naturally land.

Also called the Isolation effect, this theory suggests that unique or distinct-looking items are more likely to be remembered and interacted with. To use this principle in your email, make sure your main CTA stands out—maybe with a different color or shape—while secondary links stay subtle and consistent.

According to this theory, the brain can only actively process a limited number of items—usually around 3 to 5—at a time. Breaking content into smaller chunks with generous spacing helps readers absorb your message more easily.

We tend to remember the first and last things best. Start your email with a strong statement or offer in the pre-header, and reinforce your CTA near the end. This framing makes your message more impactful, increasing the chance that your main point will be remembered.

Poor email design not only looks messy but also confuses the brain. When your layout conflicts with how people naturally process information, it becomes harder to read, easier to ignore, and less likely to generate clicks. Here are some common mistakes that can quietly harm your email’s performance:

This violates the Von Restorff Effect, which shows we’re more likely to remember and act on items that stand out from their surroundings. When every button “shouts” equally, nothing stands out, causing decision fatigue and fewer clicks.

This interrupts the Primacy Effect—a memory bias where people best remember the first items they see. If your CTA isn’t visible right away, you miss out on the most memorable part of the email.

This causes visual overload and increases cognitive load. According to Cognitive Load Theory, the brain can only process 3–5 elements at a time. Without enough whitespace, readers struggle to organize and prioritize content, which leads to confusion and inaction. It also reduces tap accuracy on mobile devices.

This disrupts the brain’s natural predictive scanning and eye-tracking patterns—like the F-pattern or Z-pattern. When layout flow is interrupted, readers have to reorient their gaze multiple times, which increases effort and slows down reading speed and comprehension.

Now that you understand how the brain reads emails, it’s time to apply that knowledge. Let’s look at how to use these psychological principles in key design elements—like layout, typography, color, and spacing—so your emails not only look right but also feel right to the reader.

Use a single-column, mobile-first design to make content easy to scan on all screen sizes. This layout creates a natural vertical flow, guiding the reader's eye from top to bottom. Alternatively, you can try a hybrid approach that combines a single-column hero section, a two-column main content section, and a single-column footer section.

Create a clear type hierarchy by using consistent sizes. Ensure at least a 1.3x size difference between each level for better clarity. To emphasize headings, use font weight rather than just color—this keeps your text accessible and easy to read on all devices and modes, including dark mode.

Use colors intentionally—reds and oranges create a sense of urgency, while blues and greens foster trust. When selecting colors, always aim to follow the 60-30-10 rule:

• 60% neutral background

• 30% brand colors (reserve this for icons and section headers)

• 10% high-contrast accent (reserve this for your primary CTA)

Use whitespace wisely, as it groups related elements and makes your layout cleaner. Add extra space around hero images, text blocks, and buttons to improve clarity. On mobile, place your primary CTA above the fold so it’s visible without scrolling, and make sure it's easy to tap (at least 48x48 pixels).

People don’t read emails word for word—they skim and focus on what stands out. The brain is wired to notice things like size, color, and position within just 200 milliseconds—before we’re even aware of it. When your layout aligns with these natural patterns, you can capture attention quickly and guide it exactly where you want. Design your emails with the brain in mind, and the results will follow.