Why cognitive load matters

In UX design, cognitive load is the mental effort needed to use an interface. It's about how much "brain power" is required to manage tasks such as navigating a website, understanding its layout, or filling out forms. It’s important to be mindful of cognitive load as a designer because, like computers, users’ brains have limited processing power.

When a website or app sends us too much or confusing information at once, it can exceed users’ capacity to process it efficiently. This can slow them down, cause them to miss key details, or lead to frustration and giving up on the task. So it becomes important to understand these limits and create user-friendly designs that don't overload users’ mental capacity.^[1]