An interaction design playground

Laws you can feel.

Designers follow a few laws about how people use screens. Reading them is boring. Feeling them takes 30 seconds each. Three quick experiments, your own numbers, zero jargon.

Experiment 1 · Fitts's law

Big and close beats small and far.

Tap 12 dots as fast as you can. Some are tiny, some are big. Your fingers will prove a law from 1954.

Why "Buy" buttons are hugeThe action people need most gets the biggest, easiest target.

Why menus sit at screen edgesAn edge stops your cursor, so the target acts as if it were endless.

Experiment 2 · Hick's law

Every extra choice costs time.

Find the word you're asked for. Sometimes there are 2 options, sometimes 16. Watch what more choices do to you.

Why good apps show fewer buttonsOne clear next step beats ten equal ones. Hide the rest one tap away.

Why menus get groupedSorting 16 items into 4 groups turns one hard choice into two easy ones.

Experiment 3 · Response time limits

How long is too long?

Drag the delay, then tap Save. Feel the exact moment an app stops feeling fast. Under 0.1 s feels instant. Past 1 s your mind drifts.

Why apps fake speedA "Saved" tick that shows at once, while the real save finishes later, keeps you in flow.

Why progress bars existPast one second, showing progress makes the wait feel shorter and safer.

Made by Ghanesh RS · product design leader

I design with these laws every day.

10+ years making complex enterprise and AI products feel simple, at Freshworks, ThoughtSpot and Eightfold AI.

See my work Play the design leadership game