Use Jakob’s Law as your default for website navigation, then use Hick’s Law to trim the choices users see at each step. Familiar menus help people feel oriented fast, while fewer options help them decide faster. The best sites do both: they look predictable where it matters and simplify moments of choice where users often hesitate.
TLDR: Jakob’s Law says users expect your site to work like other sites they already know. Hick’s Law says too many choices slow decisions. For example, an ecommerce team that reduced its top menu from 11 items to 6 and kept familiar labels like Shop, Sale, and Cart saw product category clicks rise by 18% in three weeks. Keep the structure familiar, then cut clutter at key decision points.
What Jakob’s Law Means for UX
Jakob’s Law, named after usability expert Jakob Nielsen, says users spend most of their time on other websites. That means they carry expectations from those sites into yours.
If your shopping cart icon is in the top right, users understand it. If your logo links to the homepage, users expect that. If your contact page is hidden under a clever label like Say Hello to the Future, expect eye rolls and missed clicks.
Honestly, it feels like some teams rename basic menu items just to sound original. Then users spend 12 extra seconds hunting for something that should have taken two. That is not brand personality. That is friction.
Jakob’s Law does not mean every site must look identical. It means core interaction patterns should feel familiar enough that users do not need a tutorial. Save originality for your visuals, tone, content, and product experience. Keep basic movement through the site boringly clear.
What Hick’s Law Means for UX
Hick’s Law says the more choices a person has, the longer they take to decide. In UX, this often shows up in menus, filters, checkout flows, pricing pages, and form fields.
A menu with 14 top-level categories asks users to scan, compare, and decide. A menu with 5 clear categories feels lighter. Less mental effort. Faster action.
This does not mean you should hide everything. It means you should group choices in a way that matches user intent. A large site can still have many pages. The trick is to avoid dumping every option into the user’s face at once.
- Bad: Showing every department, subcategory, campaign, and support link in one giant menu.
- Better: Showing 5 to 7 main categories with clear dropdown groups.
- Best: Prioritizing the most common tasks based on search data, clicks, and support requests.
Jakob’s Law vs Hick’s Law: The Real Difference
These two laws solve different problems.
- Jakob’s Law answers: Will users understand how this works?
- Hick’s Law answers: Are we giving users too many choices at once?
Jakob’s Law is about recognition. Hick’s Law is about decision speed. One helps users feel at home. The other helps them choose without stalling.
For website navigation, Jakob’s Law tells you to use expected patterns. Put menus where people expect them. Use common labels. Make the logo clickable. Use a clear cart, account, and search icon if your site needs them.
Hick’s Law then helps you edit. It tells you to reduce the number of visible choices, group related items, and remove links that do not support the user’s goal.
They are not rivals. They are a very useful pair.
How This Works in Website Navigation
Imagine a SaaS website with this top menu:
- Platform
- Solutions
- Features
- Use Cases
- Industries
- Customers
- Resources
- Academy
- Company
- Partners
- Pricing
That is a lot. Worse, several labels compete with each other. What is the difference between Solutions, Use Cases, and Industries? Users should not need an internal sales deck to understand your menu.
A cleaner version might be:
- Product
- Solutions
- Pricing
- Resources
- Company
Now Jakob’s Law is respected because the labels are familiar. Hick’s Law is respected because the user sees fewer choices. Submenus can still hold the deeper pages, but the first decision is easier.
When Familiar Design Wins
Familiar design wins when users are trying to complete a task. This is especially true for ecommerce, banking, healthcare, travel, and B2B software. People are not there to admire your menu naming system. They want shoes, a refund policy, a lab result, a flight change, or a demo request.
Use Jakob’s Law for elements such as:
- Header layout: Logo on the left, key actions on the right.
- Search: A visible search field or icon, especially on content-heavy sites.
- Cart and account: Standard icons and clear placement.
- Breadcrumbs: Helpful on sites with deep category paths.
- Footer links: Contact, privacy, terms, careers, and social links.
Breaking these patterns can work, but the burden is on you. Test it. If users miss key actions, the clever idea is costing money.
When Fewer Choices Win
Hick’s Law matters most when users must compare options. Pricing pages are a classic example. Three plans are easier to compare than six. Filters are another. If a shoe category offers 38 filters, people may freeze before they even see the products.
Fewer choices do not always mean fewer products. It can mean better staging.
- Show popular filters first.
- Collapse advanced filters.
- Group similar menu items.
- Use progressive disclosure for complex tools.
- Remove rarely used links from the header.
The goal is not minimalism for its own sake. The goal is momentum. Users should always know what the next useful action is.
A Practical Framework for Better Menus
Use this simple process when improving site navigation:
- List user goals. Find the top tasks from analytics, search logs, heatmaps, and support tickets.
- Match familiar patterns. Use labels users already understand. Avoid cute wording for core actions.
- Cut top-level clutter. Aim for a short primary menu. Many sites work well with 4 to 7 main items.
- Group deeper pages. Put related links into dropdowns or hub pages.
- Test first-click success. Ask users where they would click to complete key tasks.
- Watch behavior after launch. Track menu clicks, search usage, bounce rate, and conversion paths.
If search usage jumps after a redesign, that may signal confusion. If users click back and forth between similar menu items, your labels may overlap. It drives me crazy when teams celebrate a “clean” redesign while support tickets quietly rise by 22% because users can no longer find invoices.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Using internal language: Your team may love terms like enablement hub. Users may not.
- Adding too many top-level links: If everything is important, nothing feels important.
- Hiding key actions: Do not bury pricing, contact, login, or cart if users need them often.
- Copying competitors blindly: Familiar is good. Thoughtless copying is not.
- Ignoring mobile: A menu that works on desktop can feel painful on a phone.
The Best Rule of Thumb
Start with Jakob’s Law, refine with Hick’s Law. First, make the site feel familiar. Then reduce visible choices until decisions feel easy.
Good website navigation rarely feels impressive at first glance. It feels obvious. That is the point. Users click, find, compare, buy, read, or contact without stopping to decode the interface.
Jakob’s Law gives users confidence. Hick’s Law gives them speed. Put them together and your site becomes easier to use, easier to trust, and far less annoying when someone just wants to get something done.
