🔁 Feedback Loop — The system that feeds itself
What comes out goes back in.
🧠 UX Interpretation: Output becomes input
A feedback loop describes a system where the result of a process is fed back into the system as input. The loop continues, adjusting behaviour over time.
In a positive loop, effects amplify. In a negative loop, they stabilise.
The shape is simple. A circle. No beginning. No end.
The system moves because it listens to itself.
🎯 Theme: Systems that evolve through response
This model appears everywhere. Thermostats regulate temperature. Social media amplifies attention. Habits reinforce themselves.
The loop suggests inevitability. Once in motion, the system continues.
Yet the simplicity hides variation. Delays, external forces, and interruptions all shape the outcome.
The model works because it captures the core dynamic without showing the detail.
It tells you what kind of system you are dealing with.
💡 UX Takeaways
- Systems can be understood through their outputs.
- Reinforcement and regulation follow the same structure.
- Simple shapes can describe ongoing processes.
- Loops suggest continuity rather than completion.
- What feeds back determines what grows.
📎 Footnote
Feedback loops are central to systems theory and cybernetics. They are used to describe everything from biological regulation to economic cycles and machine learning systems.