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content/links/2024-03-04-jakob-law-and-the-valley-of-cognition.md

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+---
+date: 2024-03-04T11:55:06.581Z
+
+title: Jakob's Law & the Valley of Cognition
+linkurl: https://lawsofux.com/
+
+tags:
+  - common design practices
+  - design
+  - development
+  - Jakob Nielsen
+  - Jon Yablonski
+  - Laws of UX
+  - psychology in design
+  - user experience
+  - user-centered design
+  - usability
+  - web design
+---
+
+Understanding the level of simplicity and usability in web design is crucial for developers and designers. When we talk about usability, for instance, we're referring to how users experience and interact with a product; closely related to this, [Jakob Nielsen](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jakob_Nielsen_(usability_consultant)>), a renowned expert in the matter, highlighted that users rely on their previous experiences when interacting with new tools, which translates into the irrefutable importance of following common design practices in order to match such expectations and needs. Although it’s undeniable that deviating from these practices could add value to certain products, it is also crucial to understand how mental models work, as users prefer sites that function similarly to what they already know. The reason is simple: this fact implies a significant reduction of cognitive load.
+
+Cleverly and not without an immense impact, [Jon Yablonski](https://jonyablonski.com/) explained the significance of understanding human psychology in design in his insightful project, [Laws of UX](https://jonyablonski.com/work/laws-of-ux/):
+
+> As humans, we have an underlying “blueprint” for how we perceive and process the world around us, and the study of psychology helps us decipher this blueprint. Designers can use this knowledge to build more intuitive, human-centered products and experiences. Instead of forcing users to adapt to the design of a product or experience, we can use some key principles from psychology as a guide for designing in a way that is adapted to people. (...) Whether it’s a website or a car, we form models of how a system works, and then we apply that model to new situations where the system is similar. In other words, we use knowledge we already have from past experiences when interacting with something new. Mental models are valuable for designers, because we can match our user’s mental model to improve their experience. Consequently, users can easily transfer their knowledge from one product or experience to another without taking time to understand how the new system works. Good user experiences are made possible when the designer’s mental model is aligned with the user’s mental model. The task of shrinking the gap between our mental models and those of our users is one of our biggest challenges, and to achieve this we use a variety of methods: user interviews, personas, journey maps, empathy maps, and more. The point of all this is to gain a deeper insight into not only the goals and objectives of our users but also their pre-existing mental models, and how that applies to the product or experience we are designing.