Hick's Law and Subway Sandwiches

Every time I visit Subway, I get overwhelmed by the barrage of questions.

- Which bread, sir?

- With Cheese?

- Toasted or not?

- Veggies?

- Sauces?

- Cookies?

- Drink?

- Combo?


Subway thinks customers love choices.

But in reality, all we want is a sandwich.

The more the choices the longer we take to arrive at a decision.

This applies to all types of experiences and interactions.

Online Shopping, Ticket Booking, IVR Systems, etc.

This delay in decision-making caused by choices is called Hick's Law. Being mindful of this law can help us design better systems and experiences.

Subway did realize this and launched a new range of sandwiches with no customization. And they demonstrated this using a hilarious ad featuring the Chess Grandmaster - Vishwanath Anand. Check it out.👇