16 laws · Marketing, sales & UX laws
Laws of marketing and UX design that drive conversions
How customers notice, remember, and choose: positioning laws from classic marketing, plus the design laws that decide whether a page, a pack, or a store actually converts.
Law of Leadership (Marketing)
It is better to be first in the customer's mind than to be better — the first brand in a category usually stays the leader.
Law of the Category
If you can't be first in a category, create a new category you can be first in.
Law of Focus
The most powerful idea in marketing is to own a single word or idea in the customer's mind.
Rule of Seven (Marketing)
A prospect typically needs to see or hear a message several times — traditionally ‘seven’ — before taking action.
Banner Blindness
People learn to ignore anything that looks like an ad, so banner-style content is often not seen at all.
Jakob's Law
Users spend most of their time on other sites, so they expect yours to work the same way as the ones they already know.
Hick's Law
The time it takes to make a decision increases with the number and complexity of choices.
Fitts's Law
The time to reach a target depends on its distance and size — big, close targets are fastest to hit.
Miller's Law
People can hold only a few items in working memory at once — so chunk information into small groups.
Tesler's Law
Every system has a certain amount of complexity that cannot be removed — only moved between the user and the business.
Doherty Threshold
Productivity and engagement soar when a system responds in under about 400 milliseconds.
Aesthetic-Usability Effect
People perceive attractive designs as easier to use and are more forgiving of their flaws.
Von Restorff Effect
When several similar items are present, the one that differs from the rest is most likely to be remembered.
Serial Position Effect
People best remember the first and last items in a series, and tend to forget the middle.
Peak-End Rule
People judge an experience mostly by how it felt at its most intense moment and at its end, not by the average.
Gestalt Law of Proximity
Objects placed close together are seen as belonging to the same group.