Jakob's Law

Happy Monday everyone! Lots going on in the Cleveland Product community, so let’s get to it!

Article of the Week

We Product people love to build products. We love innovation. We love solving problems in new and creative ways. We love to create experiences that are better than our competition. However, we must also be careful in how we do that, because we can’t be so innovative and creative that our customers are overwhelmed with options, get frustrated with the navigation, or unable to find our new feature.

This is where Jakob’s Law comes in. Named after the founder of the Nielsen Norman Group Dr. Jakob Nielsen, Jakob’s Law states that users spend most of their team on other sites, and they would prefer that all sites work in the same general way. While we want our new features to have a clear advantage over our competition by doing things better and/or differently, we also have to be careful that it’s not too different, which could adversely affect customer satisfaction, retention of existing customers, or acquisition of new users.

Nielsen Norman Group’s site has a short video from Dr. Jakob Nielsen that succinctly describes this principle and why it’s important, and also includes resources that can you use to improve your customer’s experience with your Product.

Product Jobs of the Week

The Product roles at Cleveland companies keep rolling in!

• University Hospitals Ventures - Product Development Specialist (Innovation Group)

• Vitamix - Senior Product Manager (Category Expansion)

• Penske Logistics - Product Line Manager

• Ringside Talent - Senior Manager of Product Management

Upcoming Events

• Product Lean Coffee - July 12th (in-person)

About the Author

My name is Shawn Leitner. I started the Cleveland Product networking group in 2017, which helps to connect Product professionals around Cleveland, providing them with a forum to network, learn, and share stories. For my day job, I'm a Product Consultant & Coach for Pathfinder Product and help clients implement strong Product practices so they can create products that their teams love building and their customers love using. Connect with me on LinkedIn or feel free to attend one of my events either virtually or in-person. Always up for meeting for a cup of coffee also!