Hick's Law: How Fewer Options Lead to More Decisions in UX Design

Have you ever stood in front of a supermarket shelf containing forty different types of strawberry jam, only to walk away empty-handed because you couldn't decide? Or perhaps you've opened a streaming app with thousands of movies and spent forty-five minutes scrolling, only to give up and go to bed?

This phenomenon is known as Analysis Paralysis, and in the world of user experience, it is governed by Hick's Law.

When we overwhelm users with too many choices, we don't empower them; we burden them. Every additional menu item, button, and link increases the time and effort required to make a decision. In a digital landscape where attention is the most valuable currency, causing a user to "freeze" is the quickest way to lose a conversion. By understanding and applying Hick's Law, designers can create interfaces that feel effortless, intuitive, and—most importantly—efficient.

What Is Hick's Law?

Hick's Law (or the Hick-Hyman Law) is a psychological principle that states the time it takes for a person to make a decision is a result of the number of possible choices they have. Formulated by psychologists William Edmund Hick and Ray Hyman in 1952, the law follows a logarithmic curve: as the number of options increases, the time to make a decision increases at a compounding rate.

In the context of digital design, reducing cognitive overload—the amount of mental effort being used in the working memory—facilitates smoother navigation. When a design is simple, the path to the user's goal becomes clear.

"The secret of simplicity is eliminating the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak." — Hans Hofmann

Hick's Law isn't about removing functionality; it's about managing how that functionality is presented. It suggests that users don't want a "blank slate" of infinite possibilities. They want a guided experience that helps them reach their destination with the least amount of friction.

Why Hick's Law Matters for Your Business

The impact of Hick's Law extends far beyond aesthetics; it directly influences your bottom line. When users are presented with a clear, concise path, they are significantly more likely to complete a transaction or sign up for a service.

1. Improved Conversion Rates

A cluttered checkout page with ten different "recommended products" and five different shipping options can lead to cart abandonment. By narrowing the focus to the primary "Complete Purchase" action, you guide the user toward the goal before they have a chance to second-guess their decision.

2. Enhanced User Satisfaction

Simplicity leads to a sense of mastery. When a user can navigate your app without thinking, they feel smart and capable. Conversely, a complex interface makes users feel frustrated or "stupid," which damages brand perception and decreases long-term retention.

3. Reduced Bounce Rates

On a landing page, you have roughly 5-8 seconds to capture a user's attention. If that page is a "wall of buttons," the user’s brain will perceive the task as "too much work" and they will exit. Minimizing choices reduces the "interaction cost," making it easier for users to stay and engage.

How to Implement Hick's Law

Simplifying an interface is often more difficult than adding features. It requires a disciplined approach to what stays and what goes. Follow these steps to apply Hick's Law effectively:

1. Identify the Essentials

Analyze every element on your screen. Does it contribute to the user's current goal? If a user is on a login screen, they don't need "Related News Articles." Remove options or information that are not critical to the primary task.

2. Group Similar Options (Chunking)

If you must offer many choices (like in a navigation menu), organize them into clear categories. This is a technique known as chunking. By grouping items, you reduce the initial set of choices. Instead of choosing between 20 items, the user first chooses between 4 categories, then chooses from a smaller subset.

3. Prioritize Main Actions

Use visual hierarchy to tell the user what to do first. Highlight the most important options—your Primary Call to Action (CTA)—using high-contrast colors and larger sizes. Make secondary actions (like "Cancel" or "Learn More") less prominent.

4. Maintain Consistency

Confusion adds to cognitive load. Use a single, consistent style throughout your interface. If all your primary buttons are filled and all secondary buttons are outlined, the user learns this pattern and doesn't have to "re-decide" what a button is every time they see one.

5. Use Progressive Disclosure

For complex tasks, don't show everything at once. Break the process down into multiple steps. A 15-field form is intimidating, but five screens with 3 fields each feels manageable. This keeps the number of choices per screen low.

6. Test and Refine

Simplicity is subjective. Use usability tests to ensure that by simplifying, you haven't accidentally hidden functionality that users actually need. Look for points in your user recordings where people hover aimlessly—this usually indicates a failure of Hick's Law.

Common Hick's Law Mistakes to Avoid

1. Over-Simplification

• The problem: Removing so much information that the user no longer knows what to do or where they are.
• The fix: Ensure "information scent" remains. Users should always have enough clues to understand where a link will take them.

2. Hiding Essential Features in "Hamburger" Menus

• The problem: Designers often tuck everything away in a side menu to keep the UI "clean," but if the user can't see the option, it doesn't exist to them.
• The fix: Keep the most frequent 3-5 actions visible on the main screen and hide only the secondary items.

3. Ignoring the "Power User" Exception

• The problem: Expert users often prefer more options and less hand-holding. Forcing a professional video editor into a "simple" wizard-style interface will slow them down.
• The fix: Offer a "Simple" mode for beginners and an "Advanced" mode for experts where more options are exposed.

Hick's Law in Action: Real-World Examples

Google

Google is the gold standard for Hick's Law. While their competitors in the late 90s (like Yahoo or MSN) were filling their homepages with news, weather, and ads, Google focused on a single task: searching. By keeping the homepage extremely simple, they removed all decision-making friction. The user has one thing to do, and one place to do it.

Uber

Uber’s interface is designed around the "Next Step." When you open the app, it doesn't ask you to browse car types, read company news, or check your profile settings. It asks one question: "Where to?" By highlighting only the essential actions and hiding secondary features until they are needed, Uber ensures the user can book a ride in seconds.

Related UX Principles

Understanding Hick's Law is just the beginning. To create a truly seamless experience, you should also explore these related concepts:

Miller's Law

Understand why the average person can only keep 7 (plus or minus 2) items in their working memory.

Resources & Further Reading

The Decision Lab: The Paradox of Choice

An in-depth look at how too many options can lead to anxiety and dissatisfaction.

Choice Overload: Why Simplicity Wins

A Medium article exploring the choice overload effect in modern marketing.

NN Group: Choice Overload Video

World-renowned UX experts explain how choice overload impairs decision making.

Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug

The legendary book on web usability and the importance of intuitive design.

Frequently Asked Questions