No. 15 Jakob’s Law

People expect it to work like other apps.

People spend most of their time in other apps, so they show up already knowing where things go.

Put the cart top-right & nobody has to think. Get creative there & they’ll go looking.

Be original. Just not with the cart.

In 2000, usability pioneer Jakob Nielsen wrote: “Users spend most of their time on other sites.”

So they expect yours to work like all the others.

He called it Jakob’s Law of the Internet User Experience. Designers just say Jakob’s Law.

• Jakob Nielsen, “End of Web Design,” Nielsen Norman Group (2000)

Save this for the next time someone wants to “reinvent” the menu.