User experience (UX) design is the process of creating products and experiences that are meaningful, enjoyable and intuitive for users. It’s a discipline that involves understanding the end users’ needs and designing effective solutions. The goal is an accessible, flexible experience that appeals to a diverse range of needs and preferences.
UX principles can be found everywhere, from the layout of a department store to the look and feel of a website. While UX is focused on customer experiences, it has a major impact on businesses, too. Bad UX can sink your strategy just as quickly as good UX can build your brand.
But while you’re pursuing good UX by filling the space with information and features, it’s possible to create a new problem: UX-induced cognitive overload.
Cognitive load theory is based on the premise that the structure of the human brain allows a limited amount of information to be processed. It’s mainly focused on the limited capacity of working memory, which has a maximum duration of about 20 seconds and the ability to hold about seven different chunks of information. Pushing a person’s cognitive load past their limit can cause them to feel overwhelmed, frustrated and unable to complete the task at hand.
UX can strain a user’s working memory, but the good news is it doesn’t have to. Here’s how you can strike the right balance between creating a compelling user experience and draining a person’s mental energy.
The Different Types of Cognitive Loads
There are three types of cognitive load involved in the experience of navigating websites or apps. Each one impacts how web browsers experience user interfaces (UI), and understanding them can help you create more pleasant and intuitive UX experiences.
Intrinsic
Intrinsic cognitive load refers to the difficulty or complexity of the information the user is trying to understand or the task they’re trying to undertake. The difficulty is due to the task’s complexity. It’s not something that you can fix by changing the user interface.
Extraneous
The non-essential elements that distract users’ attention away from the main task contribute to the extraneous cognitive load. This isn’t about completing a difficult task, but rather having too many distractions that pull users away from an easy one. The easier the process of navigating the website or completing a purchase, the lower the extraneous cognitive load is.
Germane
The germane cognitive load refers to the effort required to use intellect and memory to process information into schemas (conceptual frameworks for interpreting and organising information). Germane load is how we process information so it becomes part of our long-term memories. The difference between germane and intrinsic load is that germane springs from the users’ intentions rather than the information itself. Although you want users to engage in the effort required to exercise their germane cognitive load, the last thing you want to do is overload it.
How UX Impacts Cognitive Loads
Like many things, UX design can overload working memory when it tries to do too much at once. Here’s how UX design can impact your cognitive load:
Complexity
Screens filled to the brim with too much competing information and too many different design elements can overwhelm users’ working memories as they struggle to focus on the most important aspects of the page.
Non-intuitive design choices
Some design choices can make it difficult for users to interact with your website. Overwhelming complexity, inconsistent design elements and a lack of research into users’ needs can lead to pages that are awkward, clunky and mentally stressful to navigate.
Inconsistent design patterns
When the look, feel, placement and labelling of designs keep changing, it puts a strain on the user’s working memory.
Information overload
No one likes being bombarded with too much information or too many tasks to accomplish at once. Information overload leads users to struggle with task completion, decision-making and productivity.
How to Ease Cognitive Overload on Websites
The best UX balances building an interface that looks excellent with keeping it simple and intuitive to use. Some tips for easing cognitive overload on websites include:
Keep the design consistent
Brand consistency involves keeping brand assets like colours, fonts and logos consistent across multiple sites and customer platforms. Having a consistent brand identity not only helps you appear more trustworthy and credible but also makes the experience more pleasant and easier for your users to process. Using a website template and familiar UX patterns will help you ensure your design remains consistent and easy to understand. Make sure you test your designs on various screen sizes to ensure they remain consistent on mobile phones and tablets.
Tailor the experience to meet the expectations of your audience
While it’s important to be consistent and to use approaches that have been shown to work, it’s equally important to tailor your strategy to the needs of your demographic. Depending on factors like age and ability, a design that’s easy for one person to navigate might be difficult for another. Giving users the option to personalise and control their interfaces by tweaking factors like layouts and soft drinks can help improve your page’s accessibility.
Prioritise task hierarchies
When you identify the specific tasks that users want to accomplish, you can position those elements front and centre. This is a process that starts with understanding your users’ needs. First, conduct the right kind of research to find out what your customers are looking for. Next, identify the most important tasks and, if necessary, change your layout to make the path to accomplishing those tasks clear and minimise anything that distracts from them. Simplify the journey of your user while removing any unnecessary detours that will distract them from their destination.
Avoid information overload in all its forms
Keep the information you present simple and straightforward so that users don’t have to wade through a sea of competing messages to get to the point. Just like it’s possible to throw too much information at the user, it’s also possible to bombard them with visual clutter. Leaving plenty of white space gives them breathing room and lets them focus their attention on the task they need to accomplish. A user can drop off the journey at any point. By streamlining information and tasks, you reduce the likelihood of that occurring.
Keep related elements together
Positioning related elements in the same area of the screen prevents the split attention effect, where users’ attention darts back and forth. Grouping UI elements like icons and buttons based on their purpose and relation to each other is better for users’ focus.
Provide immediate feedback
Providing gentle reassurance that users are on the right track prevents them from overthinking the process. Provide some kind of quick response after an action like pressing a button or submitting a form to let them know they’ve successfully moved onto the next stage.
Balance UX with UI with Anchor Digital
Anchor Digital is the kind of web design company you need: one that balances UX and UI to give you the best possible chance of increasing your conversions. Anchor does more than create an innovative, user-friendly website. We design a professional, well-optimised site that enhances your credibility and helps you stand out among your competitors. Our creatives conceive quality content, and our developers code it into your site. The collaborative nature of this process means these services can all be provided under one roof, keeping your brand identity consistent.
Anchor can be your creative agency if you’re looking for creative assets that boldly represent who you are as a brand. We have many creative services to choose from, from brand identity and communication work to graphic design, web design and development and many more.
To get started on user-friendly professional UX, call 1300 971 392, email info@anchordigital.com.au or contact the Anchor team online.
