Users arrive with expectations
Nielsen (2000) observed that users spend most of their time on other sites and bring those habits with them, a mental model in Johnson-Laird's (1983) sense. Norman (2013) explains that conventions dramatically lower learning effort, so breaking the promises that the logo goes home, the magnifier means search and the cart sits top-right leaves people lost.
Where research says users look
Roth et al. (2010) measured where people expect logos, search, carts and login on shops, news and company sites, and found strikingly consistent answers: logo top-left, search and cart top-right. On mobile, platform patterns such as bottom navigation and top-left back buttons form the model. The consistency and standards principle in Nielsen's usability heuristics is the same idea.
Balancing innovation and familiarity
The law does not forbid change: keep navigation and basic controls conventional and differentiate through content, features and voice. When a new pattern is essential, offer the old way alongside or change gradually; Yablonski (2020) describes letting users temporarily revert after a redesign. Conventions such as the hamburger menu shift over time, so keep checking what today's users know.
FAQ
- Does Jakob's law block new design?
- No; keep core controls conventional and innovate in content and features.
- How do I know which conventions to follow?
- Compare leading products for shared patterns and confirm expectations through usability testing.
Sources reviewed: 2026-10-27
References
- Nielsen, J. (2000, July 23). End of web design. Nielsen Norman Group. The original statement that users spend most of their time on other sites.
- Yablonski, J. (2020). Laws of UX: Using psychology to design better products & services. O'Reilly Media. Collects UX psychology laws, including Jakob's law, with examples.
- Roth, S. P., Schmutz, P., Pauwels, S. L., Bargas-Avila, J. A., & Opwis, K. (2010). Mental models for web objects: Where do users expect to find the most frequent objects in online shops, news portals, and company web pages? Interacting with Computers, 22(2), 140–152. Measures where users expect logos, search and carts to be.
- Johnson-Laird, P. N. (1983). Mental models: Towards a cognitive science of language, inference, and consciousness. Harvard University Press. Classic on mental models, explaining why users arrive with expectations.
- Norman, D. A. (2013). The design of everyday things (Revised and expanded ed.). Basic Books. Explains how conventions and mental models drive usability.
- Nielsen, J. (1994). Usability engineering. Morgan Kaufmann. Covers the consistency and standards principle.
- Lidwell, W., Holden, K., & Butler, J. (2010). Universal principles of design (Rev. ed.). Rockport. Concise entries on consistency and familiarity.