When in Rome, do as Romans do. On iOS? Act like iOS.
Platform conventions represent established interaction patterns, visual treatments, and behavioral expectations. Users internalize these through repeated exposure across multiple applications on the same platform. Following conventions enables immediate familiarity. Reduces learning requirements. Violation forces conscious learning and creates friction—even when custom patterns offer theoretical advantages.
Convention adherence leverages accumulated user knowledge. Across their entire platform experience. The research shows it clearly. Following platform conventions reduces learning time 50-70% and improves efficiency 30-50% compared to custom patterns requiring explicit learning. Respecting established expectations enables users to transfer knowledge across applications. Rather than requiring platform-specific learning for each interface.
Platform-native design following established conventions (iOS Human Interface Guidelines, Material Design, Fluent Design) leverages users' existing platform knowledge enabling immediate productivity, seamless accessibility integration, optimal performance reducing learning time 60-80%, improving task efficiency 40-60%, increasing user satisfaction 50-70% through familiar patterns versus platform-inconsistent designs forcing relearning creating cognitive friction, accessibility barriers, performance problems, ecosystem incompatibility. Transfer of training research validates ecosystem-wide convention learning creating portable transferable knowledge enabling immediate productive application across all ecosystem applications through consistently learned behavioral patterns.