That’s why when we’re required to think too much about how to work with a product (high cognitive load), we often simply abandon the task or product altogether. But unfortunately, there's no easy way to increase the actual processing power of a human brain. Similar to computers, our brains have a limited amount of processing power. When it becomes apparent that a computer can't handle our demands, we upgrade it to a more powerful machine. Most users know that having too many programs running at the same time can slow down or even crash a computer system, which is why we usually close programs when we aren’t using them. The idea of processing power becomes clear when we think about it in the context of computers.

In UX design, cognitive load indicates the amount of mental processing power required to use a product. What is a cognitive load?Ī cognitive load is a characteristic that affects how efficiently users complete tasks. You might also like: Frictionless Experience: How to Create Smooth User Flows. One way of doing so is by using smart defaults. Steve Krug famously said, “Don’t make me think,” and if you want to follow his advice, you need to focus on reducing cognitive load. One such barrier is anything that stops users and makes them think about how to proceed.

And while that goal might sound simple, in real life there are a lot of barriers that prevent users from achieving it. When UX designers work on a product, they put maximum effort into creating something that gives users the straightest path to their desired outcome. If you ask UX designers about the goal of their job, they’ll probably tell you that the goal is to make the user's life simple.

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