Do you remember your greatest moment?
Or do you remember how it ended?
Introduction
Picture this — you’ve spent an entire day at a local fair, soaking up the sun, indulging in mouthwatering treats, and being dazzled by the various attractions. However, just before leaving, you trip and scrape your knee. When you reminisce about the day, the painful fall tends to overshadow all the delightful experiences. Sounds familiar? This is not just about a random occurrence but a cognitive bias in action, known as the Peak-End Rule.
We are looking at Day 20 of the series “30-Day UX Laws and Principles”, If you are yet to read the Day 19 part of the series, I highly recommend you read it. Today we will be exploring :
The Peak-End Rule Uncovered
The Peak-End Rule, a psychological concept that pervades our everyday lives, is a heuristic indicating that our recollections of past events are majorly influenced by two factors: the peak — the most intense point, and the end of the experience. We do not judge experiences in their entirety but rather focus on these key moments. This intriguing rule, often unnoticed but significantly impactful, was introduced by esteemed Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman and his associate, Barbara Fredrickson.
“We can be blind to the obvious, and we are also blind to our blindness.” — Kahneman
This quote encapsulates the fundamental essence of the Peak-End Rule. The idea is simple yet overlooked: we believe we remember everything about an experience, but our memory is selective, choosing to highlight the peaks and the end, often casting a shadow over the entire event.
Daniel Kahneman and Barbara Fredrickson’s pioneering research catapulted the Peak-End Rule to prominence. They conducted an ingenious experiment involving individuals and a tub of painfully cold water. Participants were asked to submerge their hands into the icy water, causing moderate pain, for two separate trials.
In the first trial, individuals held their hands in the cold water for a straight 60 seconds. For the second trial, they kept their hand submerged for 60 seconds, just like the first trial, but this time added an extra 30 seconds where the water was gradually warmed, slightly reducing the level of discomfort.
Although the second trial entailed a longer duration of discomfort, the participants retrospectively rated it as less painful. It seemed counterintuitive. Why did a longer, still uncomfortable experience yield a less painful memory? The answer lay in the slightly less painful ending of the second trial. Despite the initial identical, discomforting 60 seconds, the extra time with the warming water created a less negative final impression, which is what participants remembered.
“Memories that are relevant to the decision that comes at the end of an episode are not a representative sample. Instead, the most intense moments stand out, and the end of the episode strongly influences it.” — Kahneman in “Thinking, Fast and Slow,”
Essentially, our memories are biased towards the peak moments and the end of an experience.
Consider a real-life example of the Peak-End Rule:
Imagine you’ve planned a vacation for a month. Most of the days are pleasant, filled with sightseeing and relaxing. However, one day you fall ill, and on the last day, your flight gets canceled. Years later, when you recall this trip, the illness (peak) and the canceled flight (end) will predominantly shape your memory of the vacation, not the entire month’s pleasant experiences.
Kahneman’s theory of the Peak-End Rule provides profound insights into the working of human memory, demonstrating how it is not an accurate recorder of experiences but an editor, focusing on the peaks and ends of events. Recognizing this allows us to comprehend why certain experiences leave a lasting impact while others, no matter how lengthy, fade away.
Peak-End Rule and UX Design
The field of User Experience (UX) design is like a vast, interconnected ecosystem, influenced by various principles, one of which is the Peak-End Rule. This principle has immense potential to shape the experiences we design and significantly impact how users perceive and interact with the digital environment.
Understanding the Peak-End Rule’s influence can be an incredible tool for UX designers.
Awareness of the Peak-End Rule enables designers to illuminate certain aspects of the user’s journey that might have otherwise remained in the dark.
Consider an application design scenario. The application may be loaded with features, but users typically won’t judge the application based on every single click, every single page, or every minor function. Instead, they will remember the intense emotional high point — the ‘peak’ — and the ‘end’ — their final interaction with the app.
Let’s elaborate on this concept further with a detailed example. Consider a language learning app, like Duolingo. Users interact with the app daily, battling through challenging language exercises. One day, after many attempts, they finally ace a particularly tricky level (the peak moment). Elated by this accomplishment, they decide to push further, taking on more exercises, and by the end of the session, they achieve a new high score (the end).
Despite any initial struggles, the user is left with a sense of achievement and satisfaction. This positive experience, according to the Peak-End Rule, will stand out in their memory. This not only promotes a positive perception of the app but also increases the likelihood of the user returning for more sessions.
“Good UX isn’t about getting someone to where they want to be, it’s about creating memorable moments along the way.” — Sarah Doody
Another example can be found in the game design industry. Consider the popular online game, ‘Fortnite’. It is structured to create peak moments (like winning a ‘Victory Royale’) and memorable endings (like a thrilling event to end a season), resulting in players coming back to the game over and over again.
Using the Peak-End Rule in design is about recognizing and amplifying these positive experiences while ensuring that the end leaves a lasting, positive impression.
“Emotionally pleasing and beautiful design works well; happy people are more likely to make a decision, overlook minor faults, and when they do find faults, they are more likely to blame themselves than the product or the situation.” — Don Norman
Negative Impressions from Poorly Designed or Unresponsive Interfaces
While the Peak-End Rule can be used to enhance user experiences, it’s essential to remember that negative peak experiences and unsatisfying end moments can be detrimental to a user’s perception of a brand or service. Let’s explore a few examples:
Crashing Apps:
Disney+ provides a prime example of how a poor user experience can leave a lasting negative impression. When the app was initially launched, it was plagued with crashes and bugs, causing immense frustration among users. This served as a peak moment of negativity, resulting in users having an overall unfavorable impression of the app, despite the appealing content it offered.
Inefficient Navigation:
A poorly designed website or app with difficult navigation can leave users feeling lost and frustrated, resulting in a negative peak experience. For instance, the Maytag website had a primary navigation interface that users found difficult to use. If moving the mouse cursor away from a specific target area caused the menu to close or show a different section, users ended up feeling annoyed and frustrated. Such an experience creates a negative peak, leaving a lasting negative impression of the site and the brand.
Slow Loading Times:
Unresponsiveness is another factor that can create a poor user experience. Imagine a user trying to access a feature on a mobile app, but the app takes an excessive amount of time to load, or worse, doesn’t load at all. This experience becomes a peak moment of frustration, potentially leading the user to abandon the app and seek alternatives.
Intrusive Pop-Ups:
Websites that use intrusive pop-ups, especially those that appear just when a user is about to leave the site, can leave a negative end impression. Ann Taylor’s website, for example, displays a pop-up offering a surprise discount when a user tries to exit the site or open another browser tab. Instead of being appreciated, these tactics are often seen as irritating and intrusive, resulting in a poor end experience.
Brand Examples Embracing the Peak-End Rule
Apple:
Apple’s product launches provide a textbook example of the Peak-End Rule. During their keynotes, Apple often saves the announcement of their most innovative or surprising product for last (the “one more thing” moment). This strategy ensures the audience leaves with a memorable final impression, talking about the event long after it has finished.
MailChimp:
Email marketing service provider, MailChimp, takes a mundane task like sending out mass emails and turns it into a fun experience. The service provides a peak moment by displaying a nervous, sweaty monkey finger hovering over a big, red “send” button right before an email is sent out. This amusing animation adds a fun peak moment to the user experience, making the whole process feel less like a chore and more engaging.
Amazon:
Amazon, has mastered the art of creating a satisfying end experience. After customers make a purchase, instead of displaying the total amount spent, Amazon highlights what the customer is getting for their money. It’s a smart move that shifts the focus from the money spent (a potentially negative experience) to the excitement of the product(s) the customer is about to receive, thereby creating a more positive end moment.
Difficulties and Limitations
While the Peak-End Rule is a powerful principle, it does come with limitations:
- The unpredictability of Peak Moments: Designing peak experiences can be challenging due to the unpredictability of human emotions and diverse user perceptions.
- Dependence on Context: The Peak-End Rule isn’t universal and can be influenced by the context of the experience.
- Neglect of Total Experience: The rule might lead to overlooking the overall experience in favor of focusing on the peak and end moments.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Peak-End Rule isn’t just a psychological principle but a strategic tool for shaping our most memorable experiences. It’s the magic ingredient that brands like Babbel, Amazon, and Apple Music use to create vibrant and unforgettable user experiences.
Yet, like a double-edged sword, this rule can also underscore negative experiences if not appropriately managed. Therefore, it’s a constant challenge and opportunity for UX designers to use this principle effectively, turning ordinary interactions into peak moments and satisfactory ends.
Ultimately, the Peak-End Rule is not a destination but a journey of creativity and innovation in crafting memorable experiences. It’s an exciting path for us to explore, shaping experiences and creating memories one peak, one end at a time.
Written by: Inchara, kubo media team.
Check out: 30 Days of UX Laws and Principles
Check out Day 19: Zeigarnik Effect
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