RE: Unsupported Opinions about the Rule of 7

["Le Vie, DonaldX S" <donaldx -dot- s -dot- le -dot- vie -at- intel -dot- com>]

I think it's great that everyone has ideas, notions, and opinions on the
Rule of 7 (and its use in Information Mapping). However, I still stand by
the empirical evidence from the many usability tests I've conducted over the
years and the preferences of readers/users/doers for more "structured"
content that INCLUDED the use of the Rule of 7, WHERE APPLICABLE. As I've
stated before, I agree that the Rule is not an absolute and that it
primarily applies to memory/recall issues, not to technical documentation
specifically.

In the article mentioned in Steve Bang's first link (UI Design Update
Newsletter), Dr. Bob Bailey (the author) states that the number 7 isn't a
magic number; he quotes research from others who state that the "ideal"
number is 4 to 6; other researchers he references say people can remember
and recall 3 or 4 items much better. Well, with that kind of brilliant
forward-thinking logic, I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that
people can remember and recall 1 or 2 things better than they can 3 or 4. 

Bailey and others seem to miss the point about the Rule of Seven: it's not
the "optimum" number for memory and recall, but it's a threshold beyond
which memory and recall become increasingly more difficult. Yes, it's easier
to memorize and recall 4 items than 5, or 2 items instead of 6, but beyond 7
items, there's a significant reduction in both memory and recall.

Bailey's opinion-based article sheds no light on any factual data, and he
stretches the limits on the application of the Rule of 7 when he says "I
have had others tell me that the Magic 7 is the reason that they: 

1. place only seven items on the menu bar 
2. place only seven items in a pull-down menu 
3. have only seven bulleted items in a list,
4. never have more than seven radio buttons or check boxes together  
5. place only seven tabs at the top of a website page"   

I've never heard anyone using the Rule for such items (especially the "only
seven" qualifier that Bailey claims). And I've never heard any such
extensions of the Rule in any of the IM classes I took.

He ends his article with this statment:

"The next time you read or hear someone refer to Miller's 'Magic 7' paper as
the justification for their argument, quietly say to yourself, 'Oh-oh, the
amateurs are at it again.'

Seems to me the amateurs are those pseudo-experts with unsupported opinion
instead of facts or evidence.

Has anyone else used the Rule with success in a usability or similar study?
(WADR, "I think that..." doesn't count..that's an opinion)

Donn Le Vie



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