Hick's Law

What is Hick's Law?

Hick's Law describes the link between the number of choices and reaction time. It is based on experiments by William Edmund Hick and Ray Hyman in the early 1950s, which is why it is also called the Hick-Hyman Law.

Decision time grows logarithmically with the number of options. Each additional option adds a little less time than the one before, but it still adds time. The law applies mainly to simple decisions between equally likely alternatives. When someone scans a sorted list for a term they already know, it hardly applies.

Why Hick's Law matters

Navigation menus, pricing pages, filters and settings almost always grow over time. Each new option seems harmless on its own, but together they slow decisions down and add uncertainty. In a store this can lead to abandoned purchases. In a SaaS product it can mean features that nobody ever discovers.

How to use Hick's Law in practice

• Highlight a recommendation: On pricing pages, mark one plan as the default instead of giving every option equal weight.
• Group items: Combine menu entries into a few clearly named categories.
• Reveal step by step: Show advanced options only when someone actively asks for them.
• Split decisions: Break complex configurations into several short steps.
• Cut with evidence: Use usage data to find options that hardly anyone picks.

Common mistakes

The law is often misread as "fewer is always better". Hiding important options just creates new search costs. The goal is not the smallest possible number of choices, but a set that fits the task and makes the next sensible decision easy.