The Logarithmic Relationship between Choice and Time: Hick’s Law

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by too many choices when browsing a website or using an app? If so, you are not alone. Many users experience decision fatigue and frustration when they encounter too many options or features on a digital product. This can negatively affect their user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design, as well as their engagement and conversion rates.

To avoid this problem, web designers and developers can apply a psychological principle known as Hick’s Law (or the Hick-Hyman Law) to their work. Hick’s Law states that the time it takes for a person to make a decision increases logarithmically with the number of alternatives available. In other words, the more choices you offer your users, the longer they will take to decide, and the more likely they will abandon your product.

What is Hick’s Law?

Hick’s Law is named after two psychologists, William Edmund Hick and Ray Hyman, who conducted experiments in the 1950s to measure how people’s reaction time varied with the number of stimuli presented. They found that the relationship between the number of stimuli (n) and the reaction time (RT) could be expressed by the following formula:

where a and b are constants that depend on the task and the conditions.

This formula means that as the number of stimuli increases, the reaction time increases as well, but at a decreasing rate. Hick’s Law is especially relevant for UX and UI design, as it helps designers understand how users process information and make decisions on digital products.

How does Hick’s Law affect UX and UI design?

Hick’s Law affects both UX and UI design by influencing how users perceive and interact with a product. If a product offers too many choices or features, users may feel confused, overwhelmed, or frustrated. On the other hand, if a product offers too few choices or features, users may feel bored, limited, or unsatisfied.

Therefore, UX and UI designers need to find the optimal balance between simplicity and complexity when designing a product. They also need to test and evaluate their designs with real users to ensure that they meet their needs and expectations.

How to apply Hick’s Law in UI design?

• Use clear and consistent labels and icons for your navigation and actions.
• Group and categorize your content and features into logical and meaningful sections or pages.
• Limit the number of options or features you offer on each screen or page. Use the principle of progressive disclosure to hide or reveal information based on the user’s needs or actions.
• Prioritize the most important or frequent options or features on your interface. Use visual cues such as size, color, contrast, position, or shape to highlight them.
• Provide feedback and confirmation for your user’s actions.

Real examples of web design that apply Hick’s Law

• Google: its homepage is extremely simple and minimalist, offering only one main option: a search box. Its search results page uses categories, filters, tabs, cards, and progressive disclosure to organize content.
• Netflix: uses a grid layout to display content in rows and columns based on different categories, and tabs to group information into sections such as overview, episodes, and trailers.
• Airbnb: uses a search box and a map as its main features, with filters and sorting by price range, property type, amenities, and ratings.

Conclusions

Hick’s Law is a psychological principle that states that the time it takes for a person to make a decision increases logarithmically with the number of alternatives available. By applying it in UX and UI design, you can create simple, intuitive, and engaging web products that offer a better user experience for your users.

Bibliography

[1] W. E. Hick, “On the rate of gain of information,” Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 11-26, 1952.

[2] R. Hyman, “Stimulus information as a determinant of reaction time,” Journal of Experimental Psychology, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 188-196, 1953.