Reducing Friction in Finance
Their ability to be instantly productive in achieving the goal they wanted to accomplish would immediately be thwarted because they would first have to learn how to use the website or app. Every task that they'd want to accomplish would require some degree of exploration to find what they were looking for and then experimentation to understand how it works.
Jakob's law isn't advocating for sameness in the sense that every product and experience should be identical. Instead, it is a guiding principle that reminds designers that people leverage previous experience to help them in understanding new experiences. It is a not-so-subtle suggestion that (when appropriate) designers should consider common conventions that are built around existing mental models to ensure users can immediately be productive instead of first needing to learn how a website or app works. Designing in a way that conforms to expectations allows users to apply their knowledge from previous experiences; and the resulting familiarity ensures they can stay focused on the important stuff: finding the information they need, purchasing a product, etc.
The best piece of advice I can give in regard to Jakob's law is to always begin with common patterns and conventions, leveraging tools like a design system when available, and depart from them only when it makes sense to. If you can make a compelling argument for making something different to improve the core user experience, that's a good sign that it's worth exploring. If you go the unconventional route, be sure to test your design with users to ensure they understand how it works. (Yablonski, 2024)
This excerpt is particularly interesting when talking about the topic of online banking and using banking apps to work towards financial goals. It highlights a key area that can have a massive potential influence over whether or not users are able to continue and reach the goals that they set out, or if they are even able to set these goals in the first place. The banking industry and dealing with finances is already a really stressful area to manage and adding a new layer of complexity that users are unfamiliar with only adds to the frustration they already may be experiencing. There are already understood design conventions that users are familiar with that can be utilized to limit the mental load and friction a user may already face when dealing with a frustrating industry such as finances. This can also lead to a greater feeling of being in control of their financial future and motivate them to more easily meet their goals.
References:
Yablonski, J. (2024). Laws of UX: Using psychology to design better products & services (2nd ed.). O’Reilly Media.
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