Miller's law

Our brains naturally seek easier ways to process information and store it in our memories. This limited capacity of human memory is rooted in science.

Miller's law originated in 1956 when cognitive psychologist George A. Miller published a paper in the Psychological Review journal titled The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information.^[1] In this study, Miller proved that chunking makes the content easier to scan, comprehend, and identify. Eventually, it helps users achieve their goals much faster and more effectively. Many designers understood Miller's theory too literally, assuming that humans could only keep up to 7±2 pieces of information in their minds when performing a task.

Miller indeed mentioned the magical number 7 but only rhetorically. In reality, the number of items in a chunk can vary depending on the context, users' familiarity with the content, and their individual capacity. Nevertheless, smaller chunks do help users scan, understand, and memorize information more effectively.^[2]