People mainly judge memories and experiences according to the (emotional) climax and the end or final result, and less according to the sum or average of all experiences.

The effect occurs regardless of whether the experience was pleasant or unpleasant. Not all other information or memories are necessarily lost, but they are not included in the overall evaluation of the experience.

We judge experiences by the climax and the conclusion.

Origin

The Peak End Rule was developed by psychologist «Daniel Kahneman» and his colleague «Barbara Fredrickson» as part of their research into human memory and the evaluation of experiences. Their studies showed how specific moments within an experience can have a strong influence on overall perception and later memory.

  • Kahneman, D., & Fredrickson, B. L. (1993), Duration Neglect in Retrospective Evaluations of Affective Episodes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Application in UX and UI design

In UX and UI design, the Peak End Rule can be used to optimize the user experience by creating particularly positive highlights and a pleasant conclusion.

For example, peaks can be intensified by introducing surprising and pleasant elements during the interaction. At the same time, the end of the user journey – such as a successful transaction or a friendly closing message – should be designed to leave a lasting positive impression.

Care should also be taken to ensure that the most intense points do not represent unpleasant memories such as aborted transactions or non-functioning processes.

Customer journey mapping can be a helpful tool to identify and anticipate these peaks. Designers can create visual representations of the user journey to identify the moments when their designs are most useful, valuable, or entertaining to the end user.

Impact on the User Experience

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Further information