Miller's Law
The average person can only keep 7±2 items in their working memory.
When to Use
Limit information chunks
Organize content into groups of 5-9 items to align with working memory capacity.
Use chunking
Break down complex information into smaller, manageable chunks that users can process effectively.
Progressive disclosure
Reveal information gradually rather than overwhelming users with too much at once.
When to Avoid
Overloading working memory
Don't present more than 9 items at once without clear organization or grouping.
Origin
In 1956, George Miller, a cognitive psychologist, published a paper titled "The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information." Miller's research showed that the average person can only hold about 7 items (plus or minus 2) in their working memory at any given time. This finding has profound implications for interface design and information architecture.