Hick-Hyman Law
Also known as: Hick's Law, Law of Choice Reaction Time
The Hick-Hyman Law predicts that human decision time increases logarithmically with the number of equally likely choices. Independently formulated by William Edmund Hick and Ray Hyman in the early 1950s, this law describes how long it takes a person to make a choice among alternatives. In human-computer interaction, the law is widely applied to menu design, navigation hierarchies, and command selection, showing that users take longer to select from larger sets of options, but the relationship is logarithmic, not linear.
Key highlights
- Simple, logarithmic relationship makes menu structure optimization straightforward and actionable.
- Explains decision time in menu-based interfaces; accounts for both number and probability of choices.
- Directly applicable to information architecture and navigation design decisions.
- Supported by decades of cognitive psychology research across diverse choice domains.
Intuition
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How it works
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When to use it
Use Hick-Hyman Law to evaluate choice menus, command selection, navigation hierarchies, and categorized options. Best applied when users must select among discrete, clearly labeled alternatives. Most applicable to decision-driven interfaces (menus, toolbars, form selections). Do not use for continuous input (sliders, text entry) or tasks involving learning or familiar routines.
Strengths & limitations
- Simple, logarithmic relationship makes menu structure optimization straightforward and actionable.
- Explains decision time in menu-based interfaces; accounts for both number and probability of choices.
- Directly applicable to information architecture and navigation design decisions.
- Supported by decades of cognitive psychology research across diverse choice domains.
- Assumes equal or statistically independent choices; real-world menus often have frequency-of-use biases.
- Does not account for visual search, reading time, or visual distinctiveness of options.
- Less predictive for novel or unfamiliar choice sets where users lack strategic knowledge.
- Does not model learning effects; repeated choices become faster as users recognize patterns.
Common pitfalls
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Applications
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Frequently asked
Should I always use a hierarchical menu structure to minimize Hick-Hyman effects?
Not always. While hierarchies reduce choice per level, they add decision steps and can increase total time if the depth is excessive. Aim for a balanced tree (depth 2–3) and group related options together. Empirical testing with your user population is crucial.
How does the law account for unequal choice probabilities (e.g., some options used more often)?
The entropy-based formulation uses H = −Σpᵢ log₂(pᵢ), which accounts for probability. Frequently used options effectively reduce decision entropy, so users select them faster. Place high-frequency items higher in menus or at the top level.
Is the Hick-Hyman Law still relevant for search-based interfaces?
The law applies less directly to search (e.g., type-to-filter in modern UIs) because users are searching, not scanning discrete choices. However, it remains relevant for structured category selection prior to search, or for voice/gesture interfaces with fixed option sets.
Sources
- 1.Hick, W. E. (1952). On the rate of gain of information. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 4(1), 11–26.
- 2.Hyman, R. (1953). Stimulus information as a determinant of reaction time. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 45(3), 188–196.
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Cite this page
ScholarGate. (2026, June 3). Hick-Hyman Law. ScholarGate. https://scholargate.app/human-computer-interaction/hick-hyman-law