[CharlieDigital]

That was a lot of words to say "Jakob's Law"[0]

    "Users spend most of their time on other sites. This means that users prefer your site to work the same way as all the other sites they already know."
    
    "1. Users will transfer expectations they have built around one familiar product to another that appears similar."
    
    "2. By leveraging existing mental models, we can create superior user experiences in which the users can focus on their tasks rather than on learning new models."

    "3. When making changes, minimize discord by empowering users to continue using a familiar version for a limited time."

[0] https://lawsofux.com/jakobs-law/

[rchaud]

There's an enormous difference between HCI and UX.

HCI relates to computer usability for general use cases. A CAD program is there to help you get tasks done, not waste your time, so must follow general HCI principles.

UX is watered down HCI that takes business considerations into account. Think about how Microsoft jams a Copilot button into everything, all the way down to the blinking cursor. That doesn't help users (and it is not removable), but it helps Microsoft claim it added 100+ million Copilot users.

The UX of Facebook is a huge mess, a never-ending, non-chronological scroll of dopamine slot machines. HCI considerations would posit that going back to the algo-free, chronological version would help users "get what they want" faster. But helping users complete tasks faster hurts how much FB can charge advertisers for your attention.

[CharlieDigital]

    > The UX of Facebook is a huge mess, a never-ending, non-chronological scroll of dopamine slot machines.

This is not really relevant to the discussion of the content of the post: "do what others are doing, do what your users are already used to doing"

Whether Facebook's content is good or bad is not really relevant; the UX of FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, and almost every other social media app is remarkably similar in layout and function.

[rchaud]

Yes, but not because of a self-proclaimed "law". The UX is similar across FB, Twitter and LinkedIN, because they all sell ads, and what you can charge for ads is reliant on how much time people are spending on the platform.

[CharlieDigital]

Laws in these cases are never self proclaimed; they are simply made from observations. This is not a law in a legal term; it's a law because through observation, there is a universal truth to it.

[blendo]

I knew it as “The principle of least astonishment”.