Don't Reinvent the Wheel Jakob's Law
Why do users prefer sites that feel familiar? This lesson demystifies Jakob's Law, the UX principle stating that users spend most of their time on other sites. Learn how to leverage existing mental models and conventions to create intuitive, easy-to-use interfaces that reduce cognitive load.
The 99% of Their Time
Imagine inviting a friend over to your new apartment. As they walk in, they scan the room, looking for a place to sit. They don't need a map. They don't need an instruction manual. They see a plush, four-legged object with a backrest and cushions, and they know, intuitively, that it’s a sofa. They know its function because they have seen and used countless sofas before. The design language is universal, embedded in their memory through years of experience. Now, imagine if your sofa was a shimmering, amorphous blob suspended from the ceiling by magnetic force. Your friend would hesitate. *Can I sit on that? How do I get into it? Will it hold me?* Their brain, which was ready to relax, is now forced into problem-solving mode. They have to learn a new system from scratch, and the simple act of sitting down becomes a task fraught with uncertainty and effort. This is the essence of Jakob's Law. Coined by Jakob Nielsen, a foundational figure in the field of user experience, the law is built on a simple but profound observation: Users spend most of their time on *other* sites. This means they arrive at your website, your app, or your software with a powerful set of expectations forged in the crucible of a thousand other digital experiences. They expect the shopping cart to be in the top right corner. They expect a logo in the top left to take them back to the homepage. They expect underlined blue text to be a clickable link. These aren't arbitrary rules; they are established conventions that form a shared language of the web. Jakob's Law argues that defying these conventions is like building a sofa that levitates. It might be innovative, even beautiful, but it forces the user to stop, think, and expend mental energy on a task that should be effortless. By leveraging these existing patterns, you aren't being lazy or uncreative. You are speaking a language your users already understand, allowing them to focus not on the mechanics of your interface, but on what they actually came to do.