Master Jakob's Law: Balancing Innovation and Familiarity in UXMaster Jakob's Law: Balancing Innovation and Familiarity in UX
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Pallab's avatar
Pallab Borah
• 1h
One of the most expensive mistakes in product design is trying to be "different."
As designers, we're often encouraged to innovate.
But innovation doesn't always mean reinventing familiar patterns.
This is where Jakob's Law comes in:
Users spend most of their time using other products.
That means they expect your product to behave similarly to the apps and websites they already know.
• If your checkout flow works differently...
• If your navigation is unfamiliar...
• If users have to stop and think...
You've already introduced friction.
The goal isn't to copy competitors.
The goal is to leverage familiar mental models so users can focus on completing their task not figuring out your interface.
Break conventions only when there's a clear benefit to the user.
The best interfaces often feel obvious, and that's exactly the point.
💬 What's one product you think gets familiarity right?
#UXDesign #ProductDesign #JakobsLaw #UIDesign #DesignThinking #UserExperience #InteractionDesign #UXResearch #DesignSystems #Figma #DigitalProducts #StartupDesign #ProductStrategy #SaaS #DesignEducation
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