Hicks Law
Published by flpbalada in fb-skills
No known issues11 installs
What this skill does
Reduce decision time by managing choice count and choice structure with Hick's Law. Use when designing menus, navigation, plans, filters, onboarding paths, settings, or feature sets with too many options; avoid for complex-task load, staged disclosure, or CTA visibility issues.
Add Hicks Law to your agent
Review the source and files first. When you are ready, copy the prompt instruction or use the CLI command supported by your environment.
Install with a prompt
Paste this into a compatible coding agent:
add this skill "hicks-law" from https://github.com/flpbalada/fb-skillsInstall with the CLI
Run this command in a controlled environment after reviewing the repository:
npx skills add https://github.com/flpbalada/fb-skills --skill hicks-lawSkill instructions
Hick's Law
More choices slow decisions. Reduce, group, default, or reveal later.
Goal
- Reduce decision effort.
- Keep necessary choices.
- Make recommended path obvious.
- Improve speed and confidence.
Rules
- Aim for 5-7 visible choices per group.
- Group related choices.
- Hide advanced options until needed.
- Use smart defaults.
- Give search or filters for large sets.
- Do not remove options users truly need.
Does not apply well
- Expert users with learned shortcuts.
- Emergency flows with trained responses.
- Choices with obvious priority.
- Sequential decisions where only one choice appears at a time.
Reduction methods
- Remove: cut unused or low-value options.
- Chunk: group related items.
- Default: preselect common option.
- Recommend: highlight best option.
- Filter: let users narrow choices.
- Progressive disclosure: show advanced options later.
Flow
- List decision points.
- Count visible options.
- Mark complexity and user intent.
- Decide keep, group, hide, default, or remove.
- Check if expert users need escape hatches.
- Define expected impact.
Resources
- On the Rate of Gain of Information - Hick (1952)
- The Paradox of Choice - Barry Schwartz
- Don't Make Me Think - Steve Krug
Output
## Hick's Law Analysis
Interface or flow: [name]
## Decision Points
- [location]: [current options] -> [target options]
## Problems
- [choice overload or complexity]
## Reduction Plan
- [remove/group/default/filter/reveal]
## Expected Impact
- Decision speed: [estimate]
- Risk: [tradeoff]
Files included
- SKILL.md