millers-law

Group menu items by category into chunks of roughly 3-4 items rather than presenting flat lists of 10 or more. Meaningful grouping matters more than hitting an exact number, so use clear headings and visual dividers to make the chunks explicit.

Miller's Law concerns chunking information to fit working memory limits, while Hick's Law addresses how the number of choices affects decision time. Use chunking when grouping fields or menu items, and Hick's Law when reducing the number of choices offered.

No, the 7±2 figure is widely misapplied in design. More recent research by Nelson Cowan suggests working memory holds closer to 4±1 meaningful chunks, and Miller's original point was that chunks, not raw items, are the relevant unit.

Avoid applying chunking rules to visual elements like colors and icons, where visual perception works differently than verbal memory. Also avoid using it to justify arbitrary limits like exactly 7 navigation items regardless of content structure.

Expert users form larger chunks because familiar patterns count as single units in memory, so they handle higher information density. Adjust grouping granularity based on whether your audience consists of first-time users or power users.