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Individual skill

hicks-law-menus

Use this skill when designing menus, dropdowns, navigation, command palettes, or any interface where the user picks from a list. Trigger when the menu has more than ~7 items, when navigation feels overwhelming, when designing a cmd-K palette, when picking what goes in a "More" overflow, or when arguing about whether to add another menu item. Sub-aspect of `hicks-law`; read that first if you haven't already.

plugins/HDeibler/universal-design-principles/plugins/cognition-and-learnability-principles/skills/hicks-law-menus/SKILL.md

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Nov 6, 2026
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Apache-2.0

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# Hick's Law in menus and navigation

Menus are the canonical Hick's Law surface — every item adds decision cost, and the structure of the menu determines whether that cost compounds or stays bounded. This skill covers the practical patterns for menus, dropdowns, navigation, and command palettes.

## The menu-size ladder

Different menu sizes call for different interaction patterns:

```
1–4 items     →  inline buttons, tabs, or segmented control (all visible)
5–8 items     →  dropdown menu, sidebar nav (scan-friendly)
9–15 items    →  grouped dropdown with section headings
16–50 items   →  searchable combobox / dropdown with type-to-filter
50+ items     →  command palette (cmd-K) or full-page browser with filters