Laws of UX: A Guide in 2024

The Laws of UX are fundamental principles that guide the design of user interfaces to enhance usability and foster seamless interaction between the product and its users. Clare-Marie Karat, a UX consultant with Karat Consulting Group, stated that “for every one dollar invested in User Experience research, you save $10 in development and $100 in post-release maintenance.”

Further underscoring the importance of digital products, the Design Management Institute reports that design-centric companies significantly outperformed the S&P index by 228% from 2003 to 2013, demonstrating the tangible impact of good design on business success.

Investing in UX also offers a substantial return on investment (ROI). For instance, if a $1,000 investment in UX for a website increases your sales by $1,500, your ROI is 50%. Understanding and applying UX laws is more than a design practice — it’s a strategic business decision that continues to pay dividends well into the future.

The Laws of UX

Understanding and implementing the Laws of UX is crucial to creating efficient and user-friendly digital interfaces. These laws are not just guidelines but are rooted in psychological principles that address human behavior and interaction with technology. 

1. Jakob’s Law

Jakob’s Law of Internet User Experience states that users spend most of their time on other sites. This means they prefer your site to work the same way as all the other sites they already know. You’ll find social media platforms as a prime example of this. Facebook introduced “Reactions” to enable users to express a range of emotions beyond a simple “Like.” Recognizing its success and user familiarity, LinkedIn introduced a similar feature nearly three years later, allowing reactions like “Celebrate,” “Love,” and “Insightful.” This adaptation emphasizes the importance of familiarity and consistency across platforms, enhancing user comfort and engagement.

2. Fitts’s Law

Fitts’s Law highlights the relationship between the time to acquire a target and the distance and size of the target. You can observe this law in the design of digital interfaces like Twitter. New users often find the small buttons confusing, as the clickable area does not include the accompanying text, which appears to be part of the button. A user-friendly redesign would involve enlarging these buttons or making the text itself clickable, significantly enhancing the ease of interaction by reducing the physical effort required to complete tasks.

3. Hick’s Law

Hick’s Law states that the time it takes to make a decision increases with the number and complexity of choices. Netflix leverages this principle effectively by introducing a “Top 10” list, simplifying user choices. This curated list helps users quickly decide what to watch by presenting a filtered set of popular and highly watched shows and movies in their region. This streamlines the decision-making process and improves user satisfaction by reducing the cognitive load.

4. Law of Proximity

The Law of Proximity asserts that objects near each other are perceived as a group. This is crucial in interface design, where related information and controls should be grouped for clarity and ease of use. You can find an example of this law’s poor application in email services where the “Unsubscribe” link is inconspicuously placed at the bottom of emails, far removed from the main content, making it easily overlooked. A more user-friendly approach would place such links more prominently for better visibility and access.

5. The Endowed Progress Effect

The Endowed Progress Effect is a phenomenon where people are more likely to complete a task if they believe they’ve made progress. Duolingo, a language learning platform, effectively uses this effect by breaking the learning process into manageable categories and visibly tracking progress through each. Doing so motivates learners by showing how close they are to achieving their goals. It also adopts the Goal Gradient Effect, where users’ efforts increase as they approach a goal, developing engagement and the likelihood of task completion.

4. Miller’s Law

Miller’s Law suggests that the average person can keep about 7 (plus or minus 2) items in their working memory. For UX design, this marks the importance of chunking information into smaller, manageable groups to enhance memory retention. An effective application of Miller’s Law is evident in the navigation design of many websites, where menu items are often limited to around seven choices to avoid overwhelming users. This approach helps keep user interfaces clean and intuitive, facilitating quicker decision-making and better overall user engagement.

5. Parkinson’s Law

Parkinson’s Law posits that “work expands to fill the time available for completion.” In UX design, you would apply this law to improve productivity by setting tight deadlines and preventing scope creep, which tends to extend project timelines unnecessarily. For example, a tech company could implement agile sprints with fixed durations to design updates for their app, significantly cutting down the development cycle and increasing the team’s output. This disciplined approach means only essential features are developed, maintaining focus and efficiency.

6. Tesler’s Law

Tesler’s Law, or the Law of Conservation of Complexity, states that for any system, a certain amount of complexity cannot be reduced. In UX design, this means balancing simplicity with necessary complexity to verify the system meets user needs without overwhelming them. Tesler’s Law is applied in software applications where advanced options are hidden in secondary menus. This keeps the primary interface simple for novice users while still accessible for advanced users who need more sophisticated functions.

7. Von Restorff Effect

The Von Restorff Effect, or the isolation effect, suggests that an item that stands out is more likely to be remembered. In UX design, emphasizing key elements such as call-to-action buttons by using distinctive colors or larger fonts ensures they catch the user’s attention. For example, an e-commerce site might use a bright color for its “Add to Cart” button to make it stand out from other page elements, thereby increasing conversion rates.

Applying the Laws of UX in 2024

With the continued emergence of virtual reality, augmented reality, and AI-driven systems, you are tasked with more than just applying traditional design principles. You must creatively adapt these laws to meet modern demands while preserving intuitiveness and accessibility.

1. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality: These technologies introduce unique spatial interaction and user perception challenges. For instance, Fitts’s Law deals with the time to reach a target, including 3D-movement consideration and the ease of reaching interactive elements in a VR environment. Designers might need to experiment with the size and placement of elements to minimize physical strain and enhance the natural flow of user actions.
2. AI-Driven Interfaces: As interfaces become more predictive and responsive to individual user behaviors, applying the Law of Proximity and Miller’s Law can enhance how information is presented and acted upon. AI can analyze user data to prioritize which options are most likely displayed, thereby reducing cognitive load and streamlining decision-making processes. This personalization ensures that users are only presented with relevant choices, making interfaces more efficient.
3. Cross-Device and Multi-Platform User Experiences: The increasing variety of device types and screen sizes requires a more flexible approach to UX design. The Law of Prägnanz suggests that designs should maintain simplicity across platforms, yet each device might need specific adjustments to optimize usability. Responsive design principles, which adjust the layout based on the device’s screen size and orientation, are a practical application of this law.
4. Accessibility and Inclusivity: With a growing emphasis on making digital products accessible to all users, including those with disabilities, applying UX laws like the Von Restorff Effect can help highlight interactive elements for users with visual impairments through color contrast and size differentiation. Similarly, Tesler’s Law of preserving complexity where necessary can guide the inclusion of detailed accessibility settings, allowing users to customize their interactions according to their needs.
5. Continued Learning and Adaptation: Designers should commit to ongoing education and experimentation with these laws as part of their toolkit. Engaging with the latest UX research, participating in design sprints that test new ideas, and collecting user feedback through usability testing are all essential practices. These efforts help ensure that applications of UX laws are continually refined and adjusted to meet current user expectations and technological capabilities.

Conclusion

The Laws of UX form the bedrock of effective UX design, ensuring that digital products and interfaces are user-friendly and meet the psychological needs of users. As 2024 progresses, applying these laws is more crucial than ever in the rapidly evolving tech landscape. 

For those looking to enhance their digital products, consider exploring how these principles can be expertly applied by visiting Flatirons’ UI/UX Design services.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the Laws of UX?
   The Laws of UX are psychology-based guidelines that help improve the interaction between users and digital products.
2. Why are the Laws of UX important?
   These laws ensure that products are accessible, intuitive, and efficient, enhancing user satisfaction and engagement.
3. How can the Laws of UX impact business outcomes?
   Improving user experience increases customer retention, conversion rates, and profitability.
4. Can the Laws of UX adapt to new technologies?
   Yes, these laws are flexible and can be adapted to accommodate emerging technologies like AR, VR, and AI.
5. How can I practically apply the Laws of UX in my own design projects?
   To apply these laws effectively, evaluate your current design through user testing and feedback to identify which laws might enhance usability and engagement. Consider also attending workshops or courses focused on UX principles to deepen your understanding and implementation skills.