Users hate clutter. Duplicated items in a list? Confusing. Repeating options in a dropdown? Annoying. Clicking the same thing twice? Frustrating.

That’s why using something as simple as lodash.uniq can make your app feel polished and intentional.

💡 What is lodash.uniq?

lodash.uniq is a tiny utility that removes duplicate values from an array.

import uniq from 'lodash.uniq'

uniq([1, 2, 2, 3, 1]) // → [1, 2, 3]

It looks basic, but its impact on UX is huge.

👀 Why should users care?

Because duplicated data feels like bugs.

Without uniq:

  • Dropdowns show the same item multiple times
  • Filter tags get repeated
  • Lists feel broken
  • It’s harder to scan or choose

With uniq:

✅ Clean options

✅ No confusion

✅ More trust in the app

🧪 Real-world use cases

1. 🛍 Filters in e-commerce

const categories = products.map(p => p.category)
// → ["Shoes", "Shoes", "Tops", "Shoes", "Tops"]
const unique = uniq(categories)
// → ["Shoes", "Tops"]

🟢 Users only see one option per category, not noise.

2. 🧾 Dropdowns and forms

const countries = users.map(u => u.country)
const options = uniq(countries).sort()

🟢 No one wants to scroll through “United States” three times.

3. 💬 Search suggestions

const terms = uniq(recentSearches)

🟢 Shows real, unique history — not clutter.

4. 📊 Charts / labels

const labels = uniq(data.map(d => d.label))

🟢 Prevents duplicate legends or x-axis labels.

🧠 What if i need unique by property?

Use uniqBy:

import uniqBy from 'lodash.uniqby'

const items = [
  { id: 1, name: 'Apple' },
  { id: 1, name: 'Apple again' },
  { id: 2, name: 'Orange' }
]

uniqBy(items, 'id')
// → [{ id: 1, name: 'Apple' }, { id: 2, name: 'Orange' }]

🟢 Works great for deduplicating by IDs, emails, or keys.

✅ Should you use it?

Yes, if:

  • You display lists or options from dynamic data
  • You use .map() or .flatMap() on untrusted sources
  • You want a clean UI and better experience

📎 Conclusions

Using lodash.uniq isn’t about code — it’s about respecting your users' attention. Repeated data adds noise, slows decisions, and breaks flow.

Clean it up. Your users may not notice what’s missing — but they’ll feel the difference.