When Stakeholders Speak Design: Building a Vocabulary Through UX Laws
Design is more than just visual aesthetics; it's a deep understanding of human psychology, behavior, and emotions. It’s what sparks reactions, guides conversations, and shapes how people experience products and services. For organizations, this creates both an opportunity and a challenge: stakeholders want to be part of the design process, yet they often lack the vocabulary to engage beyond surface-level questions. Comments such as “Is that below the fold?” or “How many clicks is this?” are not trivial; they are attempts to participate without the right language. But they reduce the complexity of human experience to mechanical measures.
To address this gap at CIBC, we introduced a framework we called the 21 CIBC UX Laws.
From universal principles to contextual practice
Some of these laws were adapted from existing resources such as Laws of UX, which curates 30 well-known principles from psychology and interaction design . We selected those most relevant to financial services and translated them into CIBC’s context. But we didn’t stop there. We also drew from behavioral science, usability research, and internal practice to assemble a set of 21 principles tailored to the realities of digital banking.
This framework gave our teams and stakeholders a common language for design. Hick’s Law helped us explain why simplifying choices reduces decision time. Tesler’s Law clarified that some complexity is unavoidable and must be managed rather than eliminated. The Goal Gradient Effect gave a rationale for progress indicators in multi-step flows. By rooting decisions in principles, we shifted discussions from subjective opinion to behavioral insight.
Embedding laws into the workflow
The 21 UX Laws were not static guidelines. They were embedded throughout the design process:
In briefs: Each project identified the laws that would guide the work, grounding design from the outset in behavioral rationale.
In presentations: Designers used the laws as visual markers when socializing their work, giving stakeholders a clear view of the reasoning behind decisions.
In the system: Components in Figma were tagged with the relevant laws, connecting abstract principles to tangible assets.
From principles to evidence
Because laws were tied to components, they became measurable. Figma analytics revealed how often particular laws were applied, in which contexts, and with what effect. This enabled us to generate reports for leadership that highlighted not only the outputs of design, but the principles driving them.
The benefits were clear. Progress bars rooted in the Goal Gradient Effect increased completion rates for loan applications. Contextual help aligned with Tesler’s Law reduced friction in complex tasks. Distinctive treatments informed by the Von Restorff Effect improved recognition of key features. Each example connected principle to measurable outcome.
Cultural impact
The most important change was cultural. Designers gained confidence in explaining their work. Stakeholders developed fluency in a design vocabulary. Leaders gained visibility into the reasoning behind design decisions. Over time, the conversation matured, shifting from folds and clicks to people and behavior.
Conclusion
The 21 UX Laws at CIBC were not a wholesale import of existing principles. They were a curated, contextualized, and extended framework that reflected both universal truths and organizational needs. By embedding them into briefs, presentations, components, and analytics, we created a shared language that elevated design conversations and deepened trust in the practice.
Appendix: The 21 CIBC UX Laws
Hick’s Law (more choices slow decision-making), Tesler’s Law (some complexity is unavoidable), Miller’s Law (working memory holds about 7±2 items), Pareto Principle (80% of outcomes stem from 20% of causes), Von Restorff Effect (distinctive items are remembered), Law of Similarity (similar elements are perceived as related), Law of Proximity (nearby elements are seen as a group), Occam’s Razor (the simplest solution is best to start with), Goal-Gradient Effect (motivation increases closer to the goal), Parkinson’s Law (tasks expand to fill available time), Discoverability (features must be easy to find and understand), Temptation Bundling (pairing an enjoyable and less enjoyable task boosts engagement), Endowment Effect (people value what they own or personalize), Peak-End Rule (experiences are judged by peaks and endings), Aesthetic-Usability Effect (attractive designs are perceived as more usable), Law of Prägnanz (complex images are simplified in perception), Zeigarnik Effect (unfinished tasks are remembered better), Fitts’s Law (target size and distance affect interaction speed), Progressive Disclosure (reveal complexity gradually), Visual Hierarchy (arrangement signals importance), and Cognitive Load (too much information overwhelms users).