Here’s the reason why premium plans are always on top
It also answers why you remember the sandwich but not everything in between
Introduction
Have you ever wondered why you can recall the first and last items of a long shopping list, but struggle with the middle ones? Or why the first and last news stories are more memorable than those sandwiched in the middle? This phenomenon isn’t magic. It’s a psychological concept called the Serial Position Effect (SPE), and it influences more aspects of our lives than you might think, especially in User Experience (UX) design.
We are looking at Day 21 of the series “30-Day UX Laws and Principles”, If you are yet to read the Day 20 part of the series, I highly recommend you read it. Today we will be exploring :
- Decoding the Serial Position Effect
- Serial Position Effect in UX
- Real-Life Brand Examples
- Difficulties and Limitations
Decoding the Serial Position Effect
The Serial Position Effect, a cognitive bias that influences how we remember items in a sequence, is a fascinating quirk of human memory. This concept is rooted in cognitive psychology and was first identified by Hermann Ebbinghaus, a pioneer in the field of memory research.
Ebbinghaus, a German psychologist who spent his career exploring how we remember and forget information, found that memory is not a simple function. It’s selective, favoring certain positions in a sequence over others. This finding led him to coin the Serial Position Effect, which is divided into two distinct phenomena: The Primacy Effect and the Recency Effect.
The Primacy Effect: Our Long-Term Memory Ally
The Primacy Effect suggests that we are more likely to remember items at the beginning of a list or sequence. Why does this happen? Well, when we encounter items at the start of a list, we tend to spend more time with them. This additional exposure allows these items to be transferred from our short-term memory — which only holds a small amount of information for about 30 seconds — to our long-term memory, a much more spacious and lasting storage area. This process is what makes the first few items of a sequence more memorable over time.
The Recency Effect: A Short-Term Memory Phenomenon
On the other end of the spectrum, we have the Recency Effect. This posits that we’re also prone to remember the last items in a sequence. However, unlike the Primacy Effect, the Recency Effect is not about long-term memory. Instead, it’s tied to our short-term memory. As the most recent pieces of information we’ve received, the final items in a list or sequence are still fresh in our short-term memory, making them easy to recall.
Ebbinghaus’s Groundbreaking Experiment
Ebbinghaus’s experiments on the Serial Position Effect were ingenious in their simplicity. He presented subjects with lists of nonsensical syllables and then tested their recall after varying periods. What he found was remarkable — the recall wasn’t uniform across the list. Instead, it followed a U-shaped curve, now known as the serial position curve.
The subjects showed a high level of recall for the first few syllables (Primacy Effect) and the last few syllables (Recency Effect). However, for those nestled in the middle, the recall rate significantly dipped. These findings marked a significant departure from the then-conventional understanding of memory, highlighting its complex, selective nature.
The Serial Position Effect demonstrates the peculiar intricacies of human memory and our cognitive processes. Remembering this effect can not only help you in mundane tasks such as grocery shopping or studying for an exam but also allow you to better understand the world of user experience, which we’ll explore in the next section. So, keep these points in mind — quite literally — as we delve deeper.
Serial Position Effect in UX Design
Understanding human cognitive biases, such as the Serial Position Effect, plays a critical role in UX Design. By knowing how users process and remember information, designers can craft experiences that are intuitive, engaging, and memorable.
Navigating Restaurant Menus and Web Pages
Take a moment and think about the last time you went to a restaurant or perused a delivery app. The dishes you remember most are probably either the first few or the last ones you saw on the menu. Restaurateurs are well aware of the Serial Position Effect. They often strategically place their signature dishes, new introductions, or high-margin items at the beginning or the end of the menu to ensure they catch the customers’ attention and remain memorable.
In digital interfaces, website navigation menus use the same principle. The most important pages — ‘Home’, ‘About Us’, ‘Services’, and ‘Contact Us’ — are typically positioned at the beginning or end of the navigation bar. Why? Because users are more likely to recall and click on these critical links thanks to the Primacy and Recency Effects.
Engaging Social Media Feeds
Think about your favorite social media platform. Ever noticed that the most engaging posts or sponsored content often appear at the beginning or end of your feed? This is no accident. Social media algorithms are designed to exploit the Serial Position Effect. They place the most relevant content where it’s most likely to be remembered, keeping users hooked and enhancing user engagement.
Product Listings and E-commerce
The Serial Position Effect extends to e-commerce platforms as well. When browsing through product listings, the items you’re most likely to remember are those at the beginning or end of the list. Recognizing this, e-commerce websites often place new arrivals, top sellers, or sponsored products at these positions to increase visibility and potential sales.
App Onboarding
Consider your experience when first opening a new app. The onboarding process typically starts with a few key features (primacy effect), followed by less crucial information, and ends with a call-to-action or a memorable closing note (recency effect). This approach is designed to give you a memorable introduction to the app’s capabilities, making the onboarding process more effective.
Real-Life Brand Examples
Several major brands leverage the Serial Position Effect to improve user experience and engagement.
Apple :
Apple uses the SPE effectively in its product launches. The first product presented is often an incremental improvement over an existing product, capturing audience attention due to the primacy effect. The ‘one more thing’ at the end leverages the recency effect, often revealing the most groundbreaking product, which the audience is most likely to remember.
Amazon :
Amazon strategically arranges products on its website. New arrivals, popular items, or sponsored products are typically placed at the beginning or the end of a product listing, exploiting both the primacy and recency effects.
Netflix:
This streaming giant strategically uses the Serial Position Effect to enhance the browsing experience. When you’re scrolling through a list of movies or series, you’re more likely to remember the first and last titles you see. Hence, Netflix places highly popular or their own original series at the beginning or the end of a category list. This strategy not only optimizes user engagement but also influences viewing decisions.
Google:
Ever wonder how Google determines the order of search results? Apart from SEO considerations, the Serial Position Effect plays a part too. The first few results get the most attention and are most likely to be clicked, thanks to the Primacy Effect. Meanwhile, the Recency Effect makes users more likely to click on the last few results on the page before going to the next page. Understanding this, businesses fight tooth and nail to appear at the beginning or end of Google’s Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs).
Spotify:
The music streaming platform uses the Serial Position Effect in curating its playlists. You’ll notice that popular or new songs are often placed at the beginning or the end of a playlist. This arrangement ensures that these songs get the most listens, as listeners are likely to remember and choose songs from these positions due to the SPE.
Difficulties and Limitations
While the Serial Position Effect is undoubtedly powerful, it comes with its limitations:
- Overwhelming Users: If too many items are placed at the beginning or end of a list to capitalize on the SPE, it might overwhelm users, leading to decreased retention.
- Reduced Effect in Long Lists: The SPE’s impact diminishes with longer lists as the middle part, often forgotten, increases.
- Inconsistent Results: Depending on factors like user attention span and interest, the effectiveness of the SPE can vary significantly.
Conclusion
The Serial Position Effect is a fascinating aspect of human cognitive psychology. While it has its challenges, when understood and applied correctly, it can greatly enhance UX design. So, next time you notice you remember the first and last items of a list or a sequence, you’ll know it’s not magic, but the Serial Position Effect working its charm.
Written by: Inchara, kubo media team.
Check out: 30 Days of UX Laws and Principles
Check out Day 20: Peak End Rule
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