Hick's Law
The time it takes to make a decision increases with the number and complexity of choices.
When to Use
Minimize choices
Minimize choices when response times are critical to decrease decision time.
Smaller steps
Break complex tasks into smaller steps in order to decrease cognitive load.
Provide recommendations
Avoid overwhelming users by highlighting recommended options.
Progressive onboarding
Use progressive onboarding to minimize cognitive load for new users.
When to Avoid
Simplification
Be careful not to simplify to the point of abstraction.
Origin
Hick's Law (or the Hick-Hyman Law) is named after a British and an American psychologist team of William Edmund Hick and Ray Hyman. In 1952, the pair set out to examine the relationship between the number of stimuli present and an individual's reaction time to any given stimulus. As you would expect, the more stimuli to choose from, the longer it takes the user to make a decision on which one to interact with. Users bombarded with choices have to take time to interpret and decide, giving them work they don't want.