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Laws of UX · Memory and cognitive load

Miller's Law

The average person can only keep 7 (plus or minus 2) items in their working memory.

The design-system take

Where the principle shows up in a token, component or pattern decision.

Chunk long lists into groups of three to five — navigation menus, table columns, onboarding steps — and keep the chunks meaningful. The number matters less than the grouping.

Adapted from Miller's Law on Laws of UX — Jon Yablonski.