No. 04 Hick’s Law

Every extra option is one more thing to think about.

Give people 12 choices & they stall. Give them 3 & they just pick.

Lead with 3 clear options. Tuck the rest behind “More.”

In 1952, British psychologist William Hick lit up one of several lamps & timed how fast people hit the matching key.

More lamps, slower picks. In 1953, American Ray Hyman confirmed it.

So it’s officially the Hick-Hyman law. Hick just got the catchier name.

• W. E. Hick, “On the rate of gain of information,” Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (1952)
• Ray Hyman, “Stimulus information as a determinant of reaction time,” Journal of Experimental Psychology (1953)

Save this for the next time someone wants “just one more option.”