Takeaways
- People remember experiences based on peaks and endings
- Design for positive emotional peaks
- Create satisfying conclusions to experiences
Peak-End Rule
People judge an experience largely based on how they felt at its peak and at its end, rather than the total sum or average of every moment of the experience.
Overview
The Peak-End Rule is a psychological heuristic that suggests people's judgments of past experiences depend predominantly on how they felt at the most intense point (the peak) and at the end, rather than on the sum or average of every moment of the experience.
This cognitive bias affects how we remember events and make decisions about future experiences.
Takeaways
- Design experiences with strong positive peaks
- Ensure the end of the experience is positive
- Minimize negative moments, even if brief
Examples
| Experience Type | Peak Moment | End Moment | Overall Perception |
|---|---|---|---|
| Website Visit | Finding exactly what you need | Easy checkout process | Positive, likely to return |
| App Usage | Achieving a goal | Confirmation of success | Satisfying, likely to continue |
| Video Game | Defeating a boss | Story resolution | Memorable, likely to recommend |
Implementation
- Identify the most important moments in your user journey
- Design these moments to be especially positive
- Pay particular attention to the final interaction
- Test with users to identify any negative peaks