Cognitive Load

Definitions

1. The amount of mental effort required to understand, remember, or act on information in a given situation. In tech culture the concept is widely used in interface design, process design, documentation, and developer tooling discussions.

   In plain English: The amount of mental effort something requires.

   Example: "The new dashboard increased cognitive load so much that even experienced operators missed the actual alert signal buried under extra widgets."

Related Terms

• UX Writing
• Above the Fold
• Ad Hoc
• Agile Estimation
• Backlog Grooming
• Baseline
• Below the Fold
• Breadcrumb
• Bug Priority
• Choice Architecture
• Cognitive Bias
• Default Setting
• Digital Toolkit
• Estimation
• Fast Lane