Insights for Food Business Owners: Why Your Menu Might Be Hurting Your Business- A Menu Engineering Strategy Based on Hick’s Law

Ever stood in front of a giant restaurant menu, unsure what to order—and ended up defaulting to something safe, or worse, walking away? That moment of hesitation isn’t just about indecision—it’s about design. And it’s costing food businesses more than they realize.

This is where Hick's Law comes in.

What is Hick’s Law?

Hick's Law, rooted in psychology, states that the time it takes to make a decision increases with the number of choices available. It was formulated by British psychologist William Edmund Hick and American psychologist Ray Hyman in the 1950s as a way to quantify reaction time based on the number of stimuli. In simple terms: the more options you give people, the slower—and more stressed—their decision becomes.

Applied to your restaurant, this means: a long, unfocused menu without a clear menu engineering strategy is hurting your sales, customer experience, and operational efficiency.

How It Shows Up in Menus

Menus are decision machines. But too often, they become dumping grounds for every dish the chef can cook, every trend the owner likes, or every customer request ever made. The result? A bloated list of 100+ items with no clear hierarchy.

Customers get:

Overwhelmed

Slower to decide

Prone to buyer’s remorse

More likely to ask staff for help (costing time)

Meanwhile, the kitchen suffers:

Longer prep times

More mistakes

Higher food waste

Weaker identity around signature dishes

What Most People Overlook

It’s not just about offering fewer options. Hick’s Law isn’t telling you to shrink your menu to three items—it’s about curating the experience to help customers make faster, better decisions.

This means:

Grouping related items (starters, mains, rice sets) into logical categories

Highlighting house specials with visual anchors (boxes, icons, badges)

Eliminating duplicative or overly similar items

Using names and descriptions that communicate a story or solve a need

Designing with hierarchy (what do you WANT them to order?)

Choice Isn’t the Enemy—Poor Choice Architecture Is

Smart design can make 30 items feel simpler than a 10-item mess. At Livinism, we help restaurants rethink their menus as sales tools—not just food lists. We consider:

Customer psychology

Operational flow

Brand clarity

Menu engineering (margins + desirability)

Hick’s Law is a starting point. The goal isn’t minimalism—it’s clarity and control.

Tips for Effective Menu Engineering Strategy

Real-World Impact

Multiple studies have confirmed the power of menu simplification in improving business performance. For example, research by Dr. Michael L. Kasavana (Cornell University) and Donald J. Smith in their work on menu engineering found that simplifying menus improves customer decision-making, increases throughput, and boosts profitability—especially when signature items are emphasized.

In one cited case, simplifying a menu led to a 15–20% increase in sales of high-margin items and improved kitchen performance (Kasavana & Smith, Menu Engineering: A Practical Guide to Menu Analysis, 2001). Similarly, Nielsen's consumer research has shown that excessive choices increase decision fatigue and reduce confidence in selections.

Conclusion

If your menu is trying to please everyone, it’s likely pleasing no one. Hick’s Law shows us that every extra choice comes with a cost—not just in time, but in confidence, clarity, and conversion.

Want to find out how your menu stacks up? Let’s apply a practical menu engineering strategy to simplify your offer, boost your sales, and help your brand stand out.

Livinism: Where Business Meets Behavioral Design. https://www.livinism.com/menu-marketing-fixes

Want practical help from real food business consultants? See what Livinism offers.