Memory & Attention
Serial Position Effect
People remember the first and last items in a list best, and the items in the middle worst.
Mechanism
Why it happens
Primacy (rehearsal time) and recency (still active in working memory) both boost recall; middle items get neither advantage.
Impact
Why it matters
- A list's middle is the least-noticed, least-remembered real estate you have
- Burying the option you want chosen in the middle actively works against it
- The effect holds for menus, pricing tables, and search results alike
Example
Without vs. with
Without
ProductDocsBlogCommunityPricingCareersSupport
Main navigation lists "Pricing" as the 5th of 9 equally-styled items.
With
ProductDocsBlogCommunityPricing
Main navigation opens with "Product" and closes with "Pricing," the two items people scan for first.
Checklist
How to apply it
Put the most important navigation items first or last, not buried in the middle
Lead lists and menus with the option you want people to notice
End pricing tables and comparisons with the plan you want chosen
Don't bury the primary action among a long row of secondary links
Where it shows up
Element areas
NavigationCardsTables