What is Miller’s Law?
Miller’s Law or the magic number seven to be precise, serves as a fundamental principle in many investigations including psychological ones, and usability design is no exception. Miller for sure originally said: “An ordinary person has to manage 7 (±2 items) of incoming information to their working memory.” This simple but inspiring statement carries great weight in the process of designing interfaces and experiences.
The famous Miller’s Law in regard to UX design significantly points out the significance of making our presented information clear and easy to understand by users. The designers have to be aware of mental load, which refers to the amount of mental activity that is needed to deal with information. If this load exceeds the limit of the transferring capacity of the working memory, then this results in confusion, frustration, and finally, poor user experience.
The main idea indicated in Miller’s law is to simplify and reduce interfaces into smaller, easier, and understandable modules and then to make this information more focused and valuable. This may involve decluttering visually, using appropriate structures; providing well-recognized signals, and quite useful feedback for a smoother interaction process.
Miller’s Law in UX Design