Jakob’s Law: How Familiarity Shapes User Experience

Have you ever visited a new website or app and felt instantly comfortable with how it works? Or have you ever felt frustrated or confused by an interface that seemed to defy your expectations? If so, you have experienced the effects of Jakob’s Law, a principle of user experience design that states:

Users spend most of their time on other sites. This means that users prefer your site to work the same way as all the other sites they already know.

Jakob’s Law was coined by Jakob Nielsen, a renowned usability expert and co-founder of the Nielsen Norman Group. He observed that users develop mental models of how websites and apps should behave based on their cumulative experience from other sites. These mental models help users navigate and interact with new interfaces without having to learn new rules or conventions.

For example, most users expect a website to have a logo in the top left corner that links to the homepage, a navigation menu across the top or on the left side, a search box in the upper right corner, and a footer with contact information and links to social media. These are common design patterns that users have learned to recognize and use over time.

By following these patterns, designers can create interfaces that are familiar, intuitive, and easy to use. Users can focus on their goals and tasks rather than on figuring out how the interface works. This leads to higher satisfaction, engagement, and retention.

However, Jakob’s Law does not mean that designers should copy or imitate other sites blindly. There are times when breaking conventions can be beneficial, such as when introducing a new feature, creating a unique brand identity, or solving a specific problem. In these cases, designers should balance innovation with usability by providing clear affordances, feedback, and guidance for users.

Jakob’s Law also does not mean that designers should ignore user research or testing. Different users may have different expectations and preferences depending on their context, goals, needs, and abilities. Designers should always validate their assumptions and solutions with real users and data.

In summary, Jakob’s Law is a useful principle to keep in mind when designing digital interfaces. It reminds us that users are not blank slates, but rather have existing knowledge and expectations based on their previous experiences. By leveraging this familiarity, we can create user experiences that are more enjoyable and effective.