{"id":14215,"date":"2022-07-21T16:02:44","date_gmt":"2022-07-21T14:02:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/?p=14215"},"modified":"2023-03-02T21:53:26","modified_gmt":"2023-03-02T20:53:26","slug":"what-is-millers-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/ux-design\/what-is-millers-law\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Miller\u2019s Law in UX Design? A Complete Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>UX design is full of laws that, while not strictly laws, can be the making of good design.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Miller&#8217;s Law is a key one of these.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re <a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/ux-design\/how-to-become-a-ux-designer\/\">looking to become a UX designer<\/a>, then this is one of the psychological principles you&#8217;re going to have to know.<\/p>\n<p>Far from a dusty old legal theory, this one involves chunks, Netflix, and the magical number seven.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First, we&#8217;re going to kick off by defining the term itself, and taking a look at where the concept of Miller&#8217;s Law originated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After that, we&#8217;ll analyze the uses of Miller\u2019s Law in UX design, taking a look at some examples of it being deployed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To skip ahead to a certain section, use this clickable menu:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#what-is-millers-law\">What is Miller\u2019s Law?<\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#how-does-millers-law-work\">How does Miller\u2019s Law work?<\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#how-to-use-millers-law-in-ux-design\">How to use Miller\u2019s Law in UX design<\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#five-examples-of-millers-law-in-ux-design\">Five examples of Miller\u2019s Law in UX design<\/a>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#netflix\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Netflix<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#ebay\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ebay<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#phone-numbers\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Phone numbers<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#credit-card-details\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Credit card details<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#blog-posts\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Blog posts<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#final-thoughts\">Final thoughts<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2 id=\"what-is-millers-law\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1. What is Miller\u2019s Law?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Miller\u2019s Law was conceived in 1956 by the American psychologist George Miller, <a href=\"https:\/\/psychology.fas.harvard.edu\/people\/george-miller\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">one of the fathers of cognitive psychology<\/a>, and, more broadly, cognitive science.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He was concerned with our \u201cworking memory\u201d: the brain\u2019s capacity for actively holding multiple bits of information, and our ability to make judgment calls using those items.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Miller&#8217;s Law asserts that <strong>the immediate memory span of people is limited to approximately seven items, plus or minus two<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>So, now that we know what it is, how does it work in reality?<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"how-does-millers-law-work\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2. How does Miller\u2019s Law work?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Through controlled experiments, Miller found that pushing the number of \u201cbits\u201d of information above this threshold caused confusion, leading to incorrect judgment calls being made. He called this point the \u201cchannel capacity\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>The magical number seven<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In other words, the number of bits that can be reliably transmitted through a channel (your short term memory), within certain time constraints, is roughly seven. A simple way to remember this is the magical number seven.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So far, so simple. Miller had observed the rule of seven in test conditions, and his theory was holding up. But there was one concern.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Miller found that the memory span of seven was consistent across vastly different types of information. For instance, seven words (each containing multiple letters) exerted the same cognitive load as seven single digit numbers. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His explanation for this phenomenon was a new theory called \u201cchunks\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>What are chunks?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Miller\u2019s conclusion was that the memory span is limited to chunks, not bits, of information. He defined a chunk as the largest meaningful or recognisable unit of information in a larger array of material. So, what counts as a chunk is subjective; their content depends on the knowledge of the person being tested.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example: a word could be a single chunk for a native speaker. However, to someone totally unfamiliar with the language, this same word would most likely present as a series of phonetic segments\u2014a collection of chunks.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Can I have your number?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This holds true for memorizing long strings of numbers, such as your phone digits. Here\u2019s a quick experiment\u2014have a read and try to memorize this sequence of numbers:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>087182349<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Close your eyes and try to recall the sequence. Struggling? Now, try again with this format:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>(087) 182-349\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You should find that this clustering or chunking really aids your brain\u2019s immediate recall. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But what does this all mean for UX design?<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"how-to-use-millers-law-in-ux-design\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3. How to use Miller\u2019s Law in UX design<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your brain initiates a learning process every time you visit a website, or fire up an app on your phone. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dynamic menus, image carousels, and virtual carts all call on the brain\u2019s ability to learn, navigate, and stay on task to achieve an end goal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each needless click, clunky moment of navigation or confusing command adds to the cognitive load. The working memory, where our seven (plus or minus two) items are stored and processed, becomes increasingly crowded.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the brain receives more information than it can handle, its function begins to slow, decision-making is compromised, and at worst tasks may be abandoned.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some level of cognitive load is inevitable for the brain when tackling such tasks. The designer\u2019s job is to predict and accommodate the mind\u2019s working limitations in order to serve the user. Working memory overload can be avoided by steering clear of these main pitfalls:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Too many options<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lack of clarity<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Too much thought required<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Common errors include adding huge menus, long lists of items, <a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/ui-design\/ui-element-glossary\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">too many design elements<\/a>, and large chunks of written content to your site, all of which cause information overload and may increase your bounce rate.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead, remove unnecessary elements and tasks, prioritize readability, minimize choices, and avoid confusing icons. This will relieve the cognitive load on users.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now let\u2019s take a look at some examples of Miller\u2019s Law in action.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"five-examples-of-millers-law-in-ux-design\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4. Five examples of Miller\u2019s Law in UX design<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3 id=\"netflix\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Netflix<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-14834 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Netflix-browsing-screen.png\" alt=\"Screenshot of Netflix TV show view showing Miller&#039;s Law at work.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"526\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Netflix-browsing-screen.png 1200w, https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Netflix-browsing-screen-300x132.png 300w, https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Netflix-browsing-screen-1024x449.png 1024w, https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Netflix-browsing-screen-768x337.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>Source:<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Netflix<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The daddy of streaming sites seems to have settled on six as its magic number. Each menu and carousel is presented on the homepage as a separate chunk, offering six options.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From the navigation menu in the site\u2019s header, to the horizontally chunked rows of icons displaying \u201cTrending Now\u201d, or \u201cPopular on Netflix\u201d, the site studiously avoids treading outside of Miller\u2019s recommended limitations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even the overtly numbered list of \u201cTop 10 Shows in the U.S. Today\u201d displays with the last four shows obscured.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"ebay\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">eBay<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-14835 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Ebay-main-page.png\" alt=\"Screenshot of the Ebay main page showing groups of 6 products only.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"600\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Ebay-main-page.png 1200w, https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Ebay-main-page-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Ebay-main-page-1024x512.png 1024w, https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Ebay-main-page-768x384.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>Source<\/em>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ebay.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ebay<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similarly, care has been taken at eBay to minimize cognitive load and decision paralysis. Despite the huge number of items up for auction, the homepage item gallery stubbornly refuses to expand beyond six images.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Clicking \u201cSee all\u201d doesn\u2019t present the user with an endless list. Instead, the auctions are displayed in a scrolling grid, where again around six items are visible at any given time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Individual auction pages are chunked into sections divided by gray lines:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A vertical image gallery chunk on the left<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A similar item carousel chunk at the bottom<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A product description chunks in the center<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A seller information chunk on the right<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This chunking is crucial for scanning and navigation of the page.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"phone-numbers\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Phone numbers\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Number chunks are easier to process, and reduce the cognitive load on those reading them. Strings of digits have been broken up in this way for decades.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In telephone numbers, perhaps the earliest example of Miller\u2019s Law being implemented in UX design, brackets and hyphens create chunks that aid both memorization and vocalization.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"credit-card-details\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Credit card details<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With credit card numbers, it&#8217;s commonplace to divide the long 16-digit number into four chunks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The security information on the rear is also often chunked into different sections\u2014using bold, italics, dividing lines, and various fonts to delineate the chunks, and reduce strain on the user.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"blog-posts\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Blog posts<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A key tenet of blog writing is to divide long passages of text into smaller paragraphs (chunks), surrounded by white space, and divided by subheadings.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This increases readability.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Formatting or chunking a blog post (just like this one!) breaks up what would otherwise be a relentless stream of information, making it much easier to digest.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Subheadings also enable readers to easily navigate within the blog, jumping from section to section, depending on what they\u2019re interested in.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Using aesthetically pleasing, content-appropriate typography will reduce distraction for the reader. This will in turn lower their cognitive load, resulting in a better understanding of the content.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"final-thoughts\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5. Final thoughts<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just like <a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/ui-design\/what-is-fittss-law\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fitt&#8217;s Law in UI<\/a>, one you start to look for it, you&#8217;ll realize that Miller\u2019s Law is <\/span><strong>everywhere<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in UX design. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From the subtle subdivisions of your chrome drop-down menus, to the carefully grouped delivery options on your last food shop\u2014without these chunks helping us compartmentalize and consume fields of information, we would be quite lost.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Miller\u2019s measurement of our active memory also rings eerily true. <strong>But don\u2019t get too hung up on the number seven.<\/strong> Remember, each person\u2019s knowledge and experience will affect their ability to process different sets of information.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chunks are subjective, but their function is universal: to provide easy ways for users to get to the information they are looking for.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re interested in learning more about the world of UX design, check out these articles:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/ux-design\/wicked-problems\/\">Applying Design Thinking to Wicked Problems<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/ux-design\/ux-research-bootcamps\/\">The Ultimate Guide to UX Research Bootcamps<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/ux-design\/ux-cover-letter-guide\/\">Writing a UX Designer Cover Letter: Everything You Need to Know<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UX design is full of laws that, while not strictly laws, can be the making of good design. Miller&#8217;s Law is a key one of these. If you&#8217;re looking to become a UX designer, then this is one of the psychological principles you&#8217;re going to have to know. Far from a dusty old legal theory, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":148,"featured_media":14843,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"yes","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ux-design"],"acf":{"homepage_category_featured":false,"cards_inner_programs_lists_left":"","cards_inner_programs_lists_right":"","related_plan_cards":""},"modified_by":"Rash SEO","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/148"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14215"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31848,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14215\/revisions\/31848"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}