Started by Chidi Eze (@pixelpushr) ·
the '7 plus or minus 2' rule is about something else
Someone at work said nav menus should have max 7 items 'because of Miller's law', so I read the actual 1956 paper. It's a funny, rambling essay about information channels and memory span. It says nothing about menus.
6 sources · 25 min down the hole
How I got here
- Started with
- “magical number seven menu items ux rule”
- Ended at
- “cowan magical number 4 working memory capacity”
The Trail
- “magical number seven menu items ux rule” (google.com)
- The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two (en.wikipedia.org)
- George Armitage Miller (en.wikipedia.org)
the paper opens with him saying he's been persecuted by an integer. great start
- Working memory (en.wikipedia.org)
- Chunking (psychology) (en.wikipedia.org)
- “cowan magical number 4 working memory capacity” (google.com)
What I came away with
Later research, especially Nelson Cowan's, puts working memory nearer 4 chunks than 7. And menus are read, not memorized: you can see every option at once, so the limit doesn't apply the way people think.
Keep going
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