Jakob's Law!

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.

This assertion is similar to the Gestalt principle of past experiences, people's past experiences influence their perception of things they use. It simply means that do not try to change the game when it is not needed.

There are a few pointers that would help in better grasping the law further

1. User's using a similar product would develop the same expectation while using the current product

2. This allows users to focus on the content or task at hand without unnecessary obstacles from the interfaces of our products. Unusual solutions or concepts, that people are not familiar with, are often led to frustration and abandonment of products because the interface is not aligned with the user's needs

3. Jakobs Law is important in UX Design and it's directly connected to mental models

4. Mental models are things that we build in our minds to make a sense of surrounding reality. For example, if you have ever flown on a plane, you probably have a general idea of what your next flight would look like. We create an operating model of the system, and then we project those past experiences into any new similar situation.

5. Using this knowledge helps UX Designers immensely because we can adapt our projects to the mental models of our product users by offering them the best user experience.

Now, let’s put the theory to the test and compare these website designs.

For example, the search tab would be where the footer is and the categories

As you can see, I’ve picked the top e-commerce website's home page now these are almost similar to the user interface. While using an interface like this, the user knows where to find a category where as the login button, cart section, search tab, etc.

For example, the search tab would be where the footer is and the categories.

Technically, the user would be able to find everything, but every time they need to find or learn anything new and then do the work they wanted to do so that this type of solution would lead to a very bad user experience and discontinuance of the product.

Learnings:-

1. Considering existing mental models, we can create exceptional user experiences that allow users to focus on their tasks rather than learning new models.

2. Jakobs law mostly applies to the basic flow of tasks which would be accomplished by the users. It is okay to depart from the norms, when it serves the user because it is important to always keep in mind to refine the user experience with an identity, with a specific goal, which is compatible with the language of your brand speaks, but you shouldn't go very far because a potential customer knows how the same product works and expects similarity.

3. User expectation from interfaces to interact with the product should be every evolving tipping in the favor of user experience.

Thank you.