Jakob’s Law says users prefer interfaces that behave like familiar interfaces. Familiar patterns reduce the learning curve, while novelty can make a design feel difficult before users discover its value. section 7.1.2
Apply the principle by:
- Learning which apps, visualizations, and reports your users already use regularly. section 7.1.2
- Borrowing interaction patterns from those references instead of inventing new controls without a strong reason. section 7.1.2
- Treating familiarity as a usability advantage, not as a lack of originality. section 7.1.2
A familiar pattern beats a clever one
A tabletop gaming interface may have useful features yet still frustrate newcomers if its controls differ sharply from interfaces they know. People may tolerate that friction when they have already invested heavily, but new users have less reason to persist. section 7.1.2
