hicks-law_skill

Overview

This skill applies Hick's Law to reduce choice overload and speed user decisions. It helps designers and product teams audit decision points, prioritize options, and implement reduction strategies to improve conversion and satisfaction. Use it to shape menus, onboarding, forms, dashboards, and feature exposure for faster, clearer user choices.

How this skill works

The skill inspects interfaces to count and classify decision points, then recommends targeted reductions using techniques like chunking, progressive disclosure, smart defaults, filtering, and recommendations. It estimates decision-time impact using the RT = a + b * log2(n+1) concept and produces a practical reduction plan with quick wins and tradeoff analysis. Outputs include an inventory table, reduction plan, and expected impact metrics.

When to use it

• Building or restructuring navigation menus and information architecture
• Designing onboarding flows or setup wizards to maximize completion
• Optimizing conversion funnels, forms, and checkout choices
• Prioritizing feature discovery or exposure in product UIs
• Designing dashboards or toolbars with many controls

Best practices

• Limit grouped options to about 5–7 items; use categories to chunk larger sets
• Prefer smart defaults and highlight recommended choices to reduce friction
• Apply progressive disclosure for advanced or infrequent options
• Provide search and filters for large catalogs instead of flat lists
• Measure outcomes (completion time, conversion, support tickets) after changes

Example use cases

• Audit a signup/onboarding flow: reduce initial questions from 12 to 3 essentials with follow-up defaults
• Redesign a product menu: convert a 10-item flat menu into 3 top categories with 3–4 items each
• Optimize checkout: pre-select shipping/payment methods based on user history
• Improve dashboard layout: hide advanced controls behind an 'Advanced' panel and surface top actions
• Increase conversion: highlight 'Most Popular' options and reduce equal visual weight