Hick’s Law
The time it takes to make a decision increases as the number of alternatives increases.1
Hick’s Law states that the time required to make a decision is a function of the number of available options. It is used to estimate how long it will take for people to make a decision when presented with multiple choices. For example, when a pilot has to press a particular button in response to some event, such as an alarm, Hick’s Law predicts that the greater the number of alternative buttons, the longer it will take to make the decision and select the correct one. Hick’s Law has implications for the design of any system or process that requires simple decisions to be made based on multiple options.2
All tasks consist of four basic steps: (1) ...
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