28 · Remembering
Peak-End Rule
What people remember of an experience is mostly its best or worst moment and how it ended.
Evidence: Holds upWhat we do with it
- 01
Map the journey and mark two points: where people feel the most, and where they leave. Those get the most design time.
- 02
Errors are peaks too. A failed payment with a clear way forward stings less than one that just says something went wrong.
- 03
Don't let it excuse a dull middle. In the research, how the whole thing felt counted about as much as the peak and the end.
Examples
Getting it wrong, getting it right.
Don't
A smooth checkout that ends on a bare order number and an upsell.
Do
A clear confirmation: what you bought, when it arrives, and what to do if something's wrong.
The evidence
What the research says.
Strongly supported. Balca Alaybek and colleagues pooled 174 results in 2022: the peak and the end together had a large effect on how people rated an experience afterward (a correlation of about 0.53, after a 2024 correction to the numbers), and how long it lasted had almost none (0.04). But the overall average mattered about as much as the peak and end did (0.60).
How our view changed
We design the high point and the ending on purpose, and we don't let that become an excuse for a dull middle.
Sources
- Kahneman, D., Fredrickson, B. L., Schreiber, C. A., & Redelmeier, D. A. (1993). When more pain is preferred to less: Adding a better end. Psychological Science, 4(6).
- Redelmeier, D. A., Katz, J., & Kahneman, D. (2003). Memories of colonoscopy: A randomized trial. Pain, 104(1–2).
- Alaybek, B., Dalal, R. S., Fyffe, S., Aitken, J. A., Zhou, Y., Qu, X., Roman, A., & Baines, J. I. (2022). All's well that ends (and peaks) well? A meta-analysis of the peak-end rule and duration neglect. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 170.
- Alaybek, B., et al. (2024). Corrigendum to “All's well that ends (and peaks) well?” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 180.
Last reviewed November 7, 2026. How we keep this current