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Crafting Unforgettable User Experiences: The Power of Peak-End Rule
When it comes to designing exceptional products, it’s the small details that make all the difference. One crucial aspect of creating a memorable user experience is understanding the peak-end rule. This psychological phenomenon reveals that people tend to judge past experiences based on how they felt at their most intense moments and how they ended, rather than the overall experience.
What is the Peak-End Rule?
Imagine a holiday at a hotel that was just average, but with a few unforgettable moments and a perfect last day. You’re likely to remember the entire stay as amazing. On the other hand, if the hotel was good but had some severely dissatisfactory experiences and a poor check-out, you probably wouldn’t return. The same principle applies to products. We judge our experience with a product based on the peaks we had and how it finished.
Designing Better Products with the Peak-End Rule
To create more memorable product experiences, we can focus on highlighting peaks and taking care of the end experience. There are two main things you can do to benefit from the rule:
Highlight Peaks
A “peak experience” is when the user feels amazing using the product, such as an “aha moment” or a dopamine hit when they achieve something meaningful. To identify these peaks, review your user journey flow and map parts of the flow when the user gets the most value or makes some sort of achievement. Then, ensure that the product interactions reflect and highlight those peaks for users.
Real-World Examples of Highlighting Peaks
- Duolingo, an EdTech app, gamifies language learning and highlights progress milestones, such as completing lessons, finishing modules, and learning new grammar rules.
- ShareTheMeal, an application that lets users donate to the United Nations World Food Programme, makes the donation process a peak experience with dynamic illustrations and heart symbols that symbolize people’s gratitude.
- Reforge, an online learning platform, reinforces the feeling of progress with congratulatory messages and percentage completion indicators.
- League of Legends, a MOBA-style computer game, gives public shoutouts whenever a player eliminates an enemy team, increasing the dopamine hit.
Take Care of Your End Experience
While highlighting peaks is crucial, you shouldn’t neglect the finishing experience. Ensure that whenever user interaction with your product ends, you:
- Acknowledge the fact
- Give them a sense of accomplishment
- Reward users, even with a small animation
Real-World Examples of Taking Care of the End Experience
- Mailchimp, an email marketing platform, gives tangible data on how many subscribers will receive a campaign and includes a high-five animation, making the experience more engaging.
- ShareTheMeal effectively wraps up the donation experience by reminding users how many meals they donated, making the meal delivery more tangible, and providing a real-life photo of a person who benefits from the donation.
- Zapier, a SaaS task automation platform, celebrates subscription sign-ups with confetti and a dancing logo, making the moment more enjoyable and memorable.
Conclusion
A great user experience is the sum of optimizations for smaller UX rules and principles. By understanding the peak-end rule and focusing on highlighting peaks and taking care of the end experience, you can create more memorable and engaging product experiences that users will want to share.