cognitive load
Brain's processing demand
Cognitive load is the mental effort required to process information or complete a task.
The term comes from psychology and education, where it describes how working memory can be overwhelmed: The interface's cognitive load made it hard to use.
Heavy cognitive load impairs learning and decision-making.
Designers aim to reduce it; complex instructions increase it.
Focused mental awareness
- concentrationSustained single-minded attention
- focusConcentrated attention point
- processingSystematic operation on data
- working memoryTemporary cognitive holding space
thinking · reasoning · comprehension · bandwidth · capacity · executive function · sustained attention · divided attention
Burden beyond capacity
- burnoutChronic occupational depletion
- exhaustionState of utter depletion
- saturationState of complete permeation
- information overloadExcess data impeding comprehension
decision fatigue · mental fatigue · swamped · overstimulation · multitasking · distraction · mental clutter · brain fog
Guidance for action
- comprehensionMental understanding of meaning
- schemaOrganized representational structure
- scaffoldingTemporary exterior work platform
- noviceInexperienced newcomer to field
expertise · worked examples · chunking · prior knowledge · skill acquisition · curriculum · teaching · pedagogy
Ease of interaction quality
- interfaceShared connection point
- simplificationMaking something less complex
- visual hierarchyOrder of attention in design
- signpostingPlacing directional markers
clarity · affordance · user experience · accessibility · navigation · readability · layout · human factors
Distilling to essential qualities
- technicalOf specific methods
- jargonSpecialized professional vocabulary
- unfamiliarNot previously known
- novelNew and unusual
complicated · layered · nested · interconnected · prerequisites · specialized · elaborate · multifaceted
attention
Focused mental awareness
- concentrationSustained single-minded attention
- focusConcentrated attention point
- processingSystematic operation on data
working memory · thinking · reasoning · comprehension · bandwidth · capacity · executive function · sustained attention · divided attention · brainpower
overload
Burden beyond capacity
- burnoutChronic occupational depletion
- exhaustionState of utter depletion
- saturationState of complete permeation
information overload · decision fatigue · mental fatigue · swamped · overstimulation · multitasking · distraction · mental clutter · brain fog · analysis paralysis
instruction
Guidance for action
- comprehensionMental understanding of meaning
- schemaOrganized representational structure
- scaffoldingTemporary exterior work platform
novice · expertise · worked examples · chunking · prior knowledge · skill acquisition · curriculum · teaching · pedagogy · knowledge transfer
usability
Ease of interaction quality
- interfaceShared connection point
- simplificationMaking something less complex
- visual hierarchyOrder of attention in design
signposting · clarity · affordance · user experience · accessibility · navigation · readability · layout · human factors · minimalism
abstraction
Distilling to essential qualities
- technicalOf specific methods
- jargonSpecialized professional vocabulary
- unfamiliarNot previously known
novel · complicated · layered · nested · interconnected · prerequisites · specialized · elaborate · multifaceted · nuanced
- cognitionthinking, reasoning, thought, remembering, memory retrieval
- Mental Efforteffort, concentration, focus, attention, problem-solving
- mental statesknowledge, conscious, mood, anxious, memory
- multitaskingjuggling, divided attention, context switching, time sharing, balancing
- Neuropsychologymemory test, executive function, working memory, attention, brain injury
- Psychology ResearchStanford prison experiment, Pavlov's dogs, marshmallow test, classical conditioning, operant conditioning
cognitive loadeffortlessness
Quality of seeming unstrained
effortless · automaticity · mindless · simple · intuitive
cognitive loadmental clarity
Sharpness of thought
clear-headedness · flow state · headspace · presence of mind
load, recognize, recognition, recognized, cognitive, incognito, recognizing, recognizable, cognition