Exercise - Laws of UX

Activity (1 hour)

  • Find as many laws of UX as you can, and read about them.
  • Each student picks 1 law
  • Where did the law originate? Was it a research paper? If yes, find the paper and do a level 1 reading of it based on How to Read a Paper - S. Keshav
  • What was the original finding of the paper?
  • Then, explain them as simply as possible - eg. Hick’s Law: The more options you give a user, the longer they’ll take to decide.
  • Using this law, come up with 3 suggestions for how to:
    1. Reduce cognitive load (complexity, memory, attention)
    2. Reduce time taken to complete a task
    3. Improve ease of use or decision making
  • Example for Hick’s Law:

The more options you give a user, the longer they’ll take to decide.

Hick's Law paper screenshot

  • Group menu items into clear categories
  • Show most-used actions first
  • Use progressive disclosure (show more options only when needed)

Resources

There is no one comprehensive set of UX Laws - different sources have different considerations for what constitutes a law. Here are some resources you can refer to.