hicks-law
owl-listener/designer-skills
Reduce decision time by controlling the number of simultaneous choices presented.
What is hicks-law?
Hick's Law states that decision time grows logarithmically with the number of options available. Apply this principle when a screen or interface presents too many choices at once, using techniques like grouping, progressive disclosure, and defaults to speed up user decision-making without hiding functionality.
- Apply Hick's Law formula (RT = a + b × log₂(n + 1)) to predict and reduce decision time
- Identify where to limit simultaneous choices: menus, toolbars, forms, onboarding flows, and pricing tables
- Group and categorize related options to reduce apparent complexity
- Implement progressive disclosure to surface common actions while tucking advanced options away
- Distinguish between reducing choice count and reducing choice quality—clarity matters as much as quantity
How to install hicks-law
npx skills add https://github.com/owl-listener/designer-skills --skill hicks-lawHow to use hicks-law
- 1.Identify the screen or interface where users face multiple simultaneous choices
- 2.Count the current number of options and measure or estimate current decision time if possible
- 3.Group related options by category or function to reduce apparent complexity
- 4.Apply progressive disclosure: show defaults and let users reveal advanced options on demand
- 5.Test the redesigned interface to confirm decision time has decreased
- 6.Compare against millers-law skill if you also need to optimize how many items users retain in memory
Use cases
- Redesigning a navigation menu with too many top-level items by grouping secondary items into submenus
- Simplifying an onboarding flow by presenting one decision per step instead of multiple questions on a single screen
- Reducing analysis paralysis in a pricing table by limiting to three tiers instead of six
- Organizing a toolbar by surfacing the five most common actions and moving the rest to an overflow menu
- Streamlining a form by removing optional fields and presenting required fields first
- UX/UI designers optimizing navigation and menu structures
- Product managers designing onboarding and decision flows
- Interaction designers working on toolbars, action bars, and command interfaces
- Researchers studying cognitive load and decision-making in interfaces
hicks-law FAQ
Hick's Law is about controlling simultaneous choices, not removing functionality. Group and progressively disclose options instead of hiding them permanently. Only remove options if they are truly unused or redundant.
The formula works best for simple, equal-probability choices like menu items or keyboard shortcuts. For complex real-world decisions (e.g., choosing between insurance plans), choice quality and clarity matter more than count alone.
There is no universal number, but common benchmarks include three tiers for pricing, five top-level menu items, and one decision per onboarding step. Test with your users to find the sweet spot.
Hick's Law addresses decision time (how fast users choose). Miller's Law addresses memory capacity (how many items users retain). Use both: reduce simultaneous choices with Hick's Law, and limit retained items with Miller's Law.
Yes. Defaulting a choice or using smart defaults (e.g., pre-selecting the most common option) effectively removes that decision from the user's cognitive load, speeding up the overall flow.
Full instructions (SKILL.md)
Source of truth, from owl-listener/designer-skills.
name: hicks-law
description: Apply Hick's Law — decision time grows with the number of simultaneous choices. Use when a screen offers too many options at once. For how many items survive in memory afterwards, use millers-law.
Hick's Law
You are an expert in cognitive load and decision-making in interface design.
What You Do
You apply Hick's Law to reduce decision time and cognitive burden by controlling the number and complexity of choices presented at any moment.
The Principle
The time it takes to make a decision increases logarithmically with the number of choices. Doubling the number of options does not double decision time — but each added option still costs something. The practical design implication:
- Presenting fewer options at once speeds up decision-making
- Grouping and progressive disclosure reduce apparent complexity without hiding functionality
- The quality and clarity of options matters as much as the count — ambiguous or overlapping options are harder to choose from than a larger set of distinct ones
The Formula (for context)
RT = a + b × log₂(n + 1) — where RT is reaction time, n is the number of choices, and a/b are empirically measured constants. The formula applies best to simple, equal-probability choices (keyboard shortcuts, menu items); it is less predictive for complex real-world decisions.
Where to Apply It
- Navigation menus: limit top-level items; group secondary items
- Toolbars and action bars: surface the most common actions; tuck the rest in overflow menus
- Onboarding flows: present one decision per step rather than multiple questions on a single screen
- Form fields: reduce optional fields; present required fields first
- Pricing tables: three tiers is the conventional sweet spot; more creates analysis paralysis
- Search results and feeds: pagination and progressive loading prevent the full count from overwhelming decision
Common Mistakes
- Conflating "fewer options" with "less functionality" — the goal is reducing simultaneous choices, not removing features
- Applying it to justify hiding important options users need frequently
- Ignoring choice quality: five clear, distinct options can be easier to choose from than three vague ones
Best Practices
- Group related options before reducing count — categorization reduces apparent complexity more than removal
- For high-frequency actions, consider defaulting or smart defaults to skip the choice entirely
- Use progressive disclosure: show defaults, let users reveal advanced options
- Test decision time directly in usability studies when navigation or menu depth is in question
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