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Hick's Law
The more choices you present, the longer a decision takes.
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The mental shortcuts every product quietly relies on. Tap any principle to see the real teardowns that put it to work.
The more choices you present, the longer a decision takes.
We seek and favor evidence that supports what we already believe.
Earlier exposure to a stimulus shapes later perception and choices.
The total mental effort a task demands of working memory.
The first value encountered biases all the judgments that follow.
Small cues can steer behavior without restricting choice.
Reveal complexity gradually so users are not overwhelmed up front.
Bigger, closer targets are faster and easier to hit.
Recurring thoughts shape what we notice in our surroundings.
We underestimate how strongly emotions drive behavior.
Design elements that guide where the eye travels.
The item that stands out from its peers is the one remembered.
The order in which the eye perceives elements on a screen.
When focused, we filter out the surrounding distractions.
We overlook the things that did not make it past a selection.
Users learn to ignore elements they see repeatedly.
Elements that are close and similar read as a single unit.
Cues that communicate what an element will do.
Attention is drawn to elements with greater visual weight.
Guidance for the next action sits inside the prompt itself.
A deliberately weaker option makes another option look better.
People tend to pick the middle option in a set.
How information is presented changes the decision people make.
Elements placed close together are perceived as related.
Complexity can be reduced but never removed — someone absorbs it.
People act more readily when the required effort is small.
Acting and immediately seeing the result of that action.
Our own expectations color what we perceive.
Attractive designs are perceived as easier to use.
We mirror the behavior of others, especially under uncertainty.
Limited availability makes something feel more valuable.
A hint of missing information creates a pull to seek it out.
Users arrive with assumptions about how things should work.
People prefer experiences that are already familiar.
One positive trait colors our judgment of the whole.
Working memory holds only about seven items at once.
One serving of something feels like the right amount.
Being fully immersed and focused in a task.
Real-world resemblance helps users grasp interfaces faster.
Receiving something creates an urge to give back.
We care more about one identifiable person than a group.
We give more weight to the opinion of an authority figure.
Framing tasks as a set makes finishing them more tempting.
Unpredictable rewards are especially compelling.
Items look more attractive shown in a group than alone.
Experts forget that others lack their level of context.
The instant a new user first grasps your product's value.
People respond more to prompts they set up for themselves.
People skew answers toward what feels socially acceptable.
Holding two conflicting ideas at once is uncomfortable.
Effort and motivation rise as the goal gets closer.
Letting users know what to expect before they act.
The simplest adequate solution is usually the best one.
People favor socially responsible companies.
People change their behavior when they know they are watched.
After the fact, outcomes feel like they were predictable.
Similar-looking elements are perceived as related.
We read ambiguous shapes in the simplest possible form.
Trying to suppress information ends up spreading it.
We overestimate how much others notice us.
A sense of new beginnings motivates people to act.
Visible effort makes a result feel more valuable.
People tend not to change an established behavior.
When users invest themselves, they are more likely to return.
Avoiding a loss matters more than an equivalent gain.
People stay consistent with their previous actions.
We stay invested in something because we already invested.
Many decisions erode the quality of the next ones.
People resist a behavior when they feel forced into it.
A researcher's bias can unconsciously sway participants.
People adapt more easily to small, incremental changes.
Over-relying on a familiar tool for every problem.
Pairing a chore with a treat makes it easier to start.
Work expands to fill the time allotted to it.
Low skill comes paired with overestimated confidence.
Our current emotions cloud and influence our judgment.
We favor smaller immediate rewards over larger later ones.
Our perception of time is subjective.
People spend more when the money is not physically visible.
We claim credit for wins and blame others for losses.
Roughly 80% of effects come from 20% of causes.
How easily users can discover your features.
Challenging a belief can make it grow stronger.
We overestimate how much others agree with us.
Adoption grows in proportion to those who already adopted.
The consequences of the consequences of our actions.
Vague, generic descriptions feel personally accurate.
We value things more when we partly created them ourselves.
We underestimate how long a task will take.
Invite users to leave the app at the right moment.
We judge an experience by its peak and how it ends.
Engaging multiple senses makes experiences more memorable.
Unfinished tasks are remembered better than completed ones.
We value something more once it feels like ours.
Grouped information is easier to remember.
Pictures are remembered better than words.
We recall things better when tied to a location.
Reinforcing small steps toward a target behavior.
Unexpected, playful touches are remembered fondly.
A memory or emotion prompts the next action.
Recognizing something is easier than recalling it.
Stories are remembered better than facts alone.
Negative events are recalled more than positive ones.
Recent, easily recalled information feels more important.
Spaced-out study sessions beat cramming for retention.
The first and last items in a list are easiest to recall.