What does the Mere Exposure effect mean for user experience?
When talking about psychological principles and design, the mere exposure effect, also known as the familiarity principle, is based on one’s exposure to patterns and elements that are already known to them.
We could in turn ask, what designs are out in the wild that we know will convert or work? What are some existing design patterns that we can build upon? These could be anything from layout to consistent button stylings, calls to action or even a checkout process as part of a shopping experience. For instance, let’s look at the file explorer window on a PC. By now most everyone has been exposed to a computer and has expectations on how a file explorer window should function. We can locate the file/folder icon to open a new window, the window should have a right or left pane with search capabilities and some type of file tree and the main functions to either maximize, minimize or close said window. All of these capabilities now feel like second nature because they’re just expected to work. If you go to close a window and it doesn’t close right away, I guarantee you’re going to experience some level of frustration.
People find comfort in familiar things. This doesn’t mean that our design or experiences need to fall in line and follow some type of cookie cutter pattern. It allows us as the designer to explore new ideas while providing comfort to our users and in turn deepening our empathy with them.
There is an exception to the rule. Whatever creates the initial stimuli must be a good or neutral experience. It sets the bar for expectations from experiences the user will encounter in the future. If someone doesn’t have a strong opinion about a design, they tend to grow to like the thing over time. The opposite is true with bad experiences. A poor or bad design can be perceived as worse as time goes on. Think of it in terms of hearing a song on the radio for the first time. You might be indifferent or even dislike the new hit single, but the more and more you’re exposed to it over the radio during your commute, the more it tends to grow on you until you know the song backwards and forwards, become a fan of the artist, or go out and buy the album. The Mere Exposure effect in play makes the music familiar and can even create an earworm. They say the best cure for a song you can’t get out of your head is to go and listen to said song.
