Deja Vu: Why familiarity in product design is Gold
The term “Deja vu” is the feeling that one has lived through the present situation before. According to Wikipedia, this is a French phrase that translates literally as “already seen”.
As a French speaker, I use the term quite often and I bet everyone has had that surreal feeling where a moment in time feels all too familiar and wondered whether they were dreaming. Most scientists agree that It is an anomaly of memory whereby, despite the strong sense of recollection, the time, place, and practical context of the “previous” experience are uncertain or believed to be impossible.
Now, back to products, I’m not qualified to give you science lessons. 😂
Have you ever looked at a web/mobile application and wondered why it looks like another product, perhaps wondered if developers and designers at different companies arrange meetups, share pizza and copy each other’s notes?
That deja vu feeling you get is not lazy designing, au contraire, this pattern duplicity or familiarity is a way of allowing users to enjoy the product without having to learn new patterns or need a degree in finance to send money to their friends through Abeg or Kuda.
One of the biggest mistakes I made as a junior UI/UX designer was to try to change the paradigm, create unfamiliar patterns in a bid to look new and different. I quickly realized during usability tests that it’ll take people more time to accomplish specific tasks because they first tried to understand the app’s layouts first instead of focusing on the tasks to be done. People are psychologically biased towards familiarity and it makes their lives easier if they don’t have to think to use your product. Uber and Bolt both have similar patterns for ordering a ride and this is the case for many other ride hailing apps/services.
For those reading this who are perhaps still trying to create something fantastically new and stylish, always remember that the best products don’t have to be Dribbble shots. it’s inherently easier to adapt new ideas to the existing world than to have the world adapt to new revolutionary ideas and patterns.
If you have read to this point, I really appreciate your time! I will be writing an article on how to go from Newbie to Senior product designer soon. Follow me on Twitter and Medium to stay in the know. Shoot me an email if you have any questions or want to small talk about design, Music or Jesus. 😊🤘🏿
