The Law of Past Experience: Designing for Familiarity
The law that explains why we intuitively scroll vertically for web pages and horizontally for photos.
Introduction
Have you ever noticed how you instinctively reach for the light switch on the wall upon entering a dark room? Or how you habitually glance at the upper right corner of your computer screen to check the time? Our daily lives are littered with such automatic responses based on familiar patterns. These patterns, woven into the fabric of our experiences, guide our behaviors and actions.
This guiding principle finds its roots in the psychological concept known as “The Law of Past Experience”. In essence, this law dictates that our previous experiences inform our future interactions, even in the realm of design.
We are looking at Day 11 of the series, “30 days of UX Laws and Principles” if you are yet to read Day 10, check it out before diving into this one. In this article we will explore :
- Breaking down the Law of Past Experience
- The Law of Past Experience and User Experience
- Real life brand examples
- Difficulties and Limitations
Breaking Down The Law of Past Experience
The Law of Past Experience hails from the Gestalt School of psychology, established in Germany in the early 20th century. The Gestalt psychologists proposed that human beings perceive objects as whole units rather than a mere collection of parts. They posited several laws that govern our perception, one of which is the Law of Past Experience.
According to this law, we interpret our current surroundings and situations based on our past experiences. We create mental models of how things work, and when we encounter similar circumstances, we apply these models. For instance, once we’ve learned that a red octagonal sign on the road means ‘stop’, we will apply this knowledge whenever we come across such a sign, regardless of the country or the language on the sign.
The Law of Past Experience and User Experience (UX)
Understanding the law of past experience is vital in User Experience (UX) design because it informs us about the behaviors and expectations of the users. If a user interacts with a product that aligns with their previous experiences, they’re more likely to use it efficiently, contributing to a positive user experience.
Consider this scenario: you’ve just installed a new app on your smartphone. Without prior knowledge of its specifics, your intuition guides you to tap on the three horizontal lines in the upper left or right corner to access more options or the menu. Why do you do this? The answer is the Law of Past Experience. Your interaction with other apps that use the same iconography, colloquially known as a ‘hamburger menu’, has conditioned you to anticipate similar functionality. This mental model forms the basis of your interaction with the new app, facilitating a smooth experience even without specific instructions.
However, the challenge for a UX designer lies in understanding and leveraging these mental models. Let’s consider an e-commerce app. It’s customary for online stores to place the shopping cart icon in the upper right corner. Should a designer decide to buck the trend and move the icon to a different location, it might lead to confusion and frustration, disrupting the user experience. A user, driven by their past experience, would expect to find the cart icon in its familiar place. A departure from this established pattern could hurt usability and intuitiveness, contrary to the goals of good UX design.
The Law of Past Experience also underlines the importance of consistency within a product or a family of products. If users learn how to perform tasks or use features in one part of an application or a particular device, they expect to apply the same knowledge elsewhere. A classic example is Apple’s ecosystem. If a user learns how to take a screenshot on an iPhone, they can apply the same method on an iPad, reinforcing their mental model and providing a consistent, user-friendly experience across devices.
Real-life Brand Examples
Some brands have expertly applied the Law of Past Experience in their design strategies:
I. Instagram— The photo-sharing app retains its signature camera icon, even with design overhauls. This consistent element allows users to associate the icon with posting images, guided by their past experiences.
II. Google Search: Google has retained the same search box layout for over two decades. Its simplicity and familiarity make it easily recognizable and intuitive to use.
3. McDonald’s: In its physical outlets, McDonald’s maintains a consistent layout of ordering counters, self-service kiosks, and seating areas worldwide, leveraging customer familiarity for a seamless experience.
Most common examples in UI
1. Calculators:
Digital calculators often mimic physical calculators in layout and functionality. Even scientific calculators in digital format carry over the same button placement and labels as their physical counterparts.
2. Keyboard Layout:
Digital keyboard layouts reflect their physical equivalents. QWERTY, the most common layout, is replicated on digital devices, providing a seamless transition from physical typing to touch typing.
3. Gaming Controls:
In many PC games, the WASD keys are used for character movement, a design convention established over time that provides gamers with a familiar control scheme across different games.
4. Design Apps:
Tools like Figma, Sketch, and Adobe XD have similar layouts and retain many keyboard shortcuts, making it easier for designers to transition easily.
Brands that broke the law ‘successfully’
1.Snapchat: When Snapchat first launched, its ephemeral content approach and unique gesture controls were quite unconventional. However, its distinctive design resonated with younger audiences and has since been adopted by other social media platforms.
2. Monzo: Monzo, a digital-only bank, has reinvented the traditional banking app interface with a more visual and intuitive design, including instant notifications and spending categorization.
3. TikTok: TikTok broke away from the traditional social media layout. Its full-screen video interface with a vertical scrolling pattern was initially unique, but its immense popularity has seen this design copied by others.
Difficulties and Limitations
While the Law of Past Experience is a vital guiding principle in design, it is not without its limitations:
- Cultural Variations: Design based on past experiences may not translate well across different cultures. What feels intuitive in one culture might be confusing in another.
- Innovation vs. Familiarity: Striking a balance between introducing new features and maintaining familiarity can be challenging. Too much innovation can disrupt established patterns, while too little can render a design stale.
- Past Experience Variation: Individual past experiences vary widely, which could make a design intuitive for some users but confusing for others.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, the Law of Past Experience reminds us that as designers, we should not design in isolation. Understanding users, their past experiences, and the mental models they’ve formed is crucial. While innovation is a vital part of design evolution, we must tread the fine line between the new and the familiar, ensuring a seamless, intuitive user experience.
So, the next time you instinctively reach for the light switch in a dark room, remember, you’re living proof of the Law of Past Experience, a psychological principle that continues to shape our interaction with the world — both real and virtual.
Check out “30 days of UX laws and Principles”
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Check out Day 11
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