DON’T REINVENT THE WHEEL

By Jakob’s Law

Imagine, Apple decides to come up with the idea of new keyboards with keys in alphabetical order, would just wreak havoc.

Generally, discomfort is caused, if there’s a deviation from standard design. Creativity sometimes needs to take a back seat for the sake of an important feature, predictability.

Users usually like to be able to anticipate what an experience will be like, based on past experiences.

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.

You can simplify the learning process for users by providing familiar design patterns.

What should the designers do?

1.       We need to do something so innovative that no brand has ever done anything like it.

2.       Seems risky, Can you give examples of other brands that have done this?

Design for patterns that are familiar to the users. “Don’t reinvent the wheel, just redesign it.”

Examples for E-Commerce website

96% of e-commerce have a provision of this style (for desktop):

•         Image gallery, Name, and price on the left.
•        Configuration and “Add to Cart” on the right.
•      The Chat button is on the bottom right corner.
•     Cart icon on the top right corner and search bar at the top.

 

THE TAKEAWAY

•  We tend to develop a liking for the things that are familiar to us.
•  Users will arrive with expectations that are formed by using other websites and similar products.
• Navigation becomes effortless, and they can focus on their task.
• Knowing your users and competitors forms the foundation for building a product, understanding contextual motivations, and pain points is a must.
• Avoid being polar towards uniqueness or individuality, i.e. to blindly copy other products or creating an entirely unique product. You need to find that crucial sweet spot.
• Apply this law to your context, take an already existing solution and amplify its effectiveness using your creativity.

We hope this information is as useful for you as-is for us. Let’s continue to grow at UI/UX Design.