UX Laws

01. Fitts’ Law

The time required to move to a target is a function of the target size and distance to the target.

Example:

Mac UI makes it easy to move to the resting place over menus. The top screen edge stops the cursor, effectively making the menus bigger by giving infinite height.

02. ZEIGARNIK effect

The Zeigarnik effect is a psychological phenomenon describing a tendency to remember interrupted or incomplete tasks or events more easily than tasks that have been completed.

Example:

In Naukri or linked-in profiles, when the profile is 60% filled and 40% left to be filled, we have the tendency to forget the filled 60% part by prioritizing the 40% unfilled portions.

03. Hick’s Law

The time it takes to make a decision increases with the number and complexity of choices.

Example:

The interface of Flipkart is clustered with too many options that confuse people from making the decision on what to purchase. On the other hand, the interface of amazon is comparably minimal and streamlined and allows the user to make quicker decisions comparatively.

04. Miller’s Law

The average person can keep only 7 (± 2) items in their working memory.

Example:

If there are too many categories in an application, it will be hard for the person to remember whereas if the categories are limited to 7, it has higher possibilities for the person to remember.

05. Tesler’s Law

Tesler’s Law, also known as The Law of Conservation of Complexity, states that for any system there is a certain amount of complexity that cannot be reduced.

Example:

In internet banking interfaces, the site automatically logs out after a certain amount of time or asks to re-login due to security measures that can not be skipped.