Miller's Law

Many designers and UX writers have heard of Miller's Law but often misunderstand it. It’s not about limiting interface elements to the magical number 7. Instead, Miller's 1956 paper introduced the idea of chunking to make information easier to process, scan, and remember. The mention of "7" was rhetorical, not a strict rule.

Miller showed that grouping related information into chunks helps users understand and retain it more effectively. The number of items in a chunk depends on the context and the user’s familiarity with the content.

Key takeaways from Miller’s Law:

• Group content into chunks to make it easier to scan and comprehend.
• Avoid overwhelming users with long lists — show the most relevant items first.
• Use visual hierarchy to prevent clutter and make information more digestible.
• Consider context, as memory capacity varies depending on familiarity and the situation.