What this helps you understand
This article helps you understand common cognitive barriers in websites and apps.
Use this guidance to identify design patterns that can make digital experiences harder to understand, navigate, or complete.
Why this matters
People process information in different ways. Some users can move forward with brief cues. Others need more context, structure, or reassurance.
When your digital experience reduces cognitive effort, it becomes easier for more people to use.
When to use this guidance
Use this guidance when you are:
- Designing or reviewing a website, app, or digital workflow
- Writing content, instructions, forms, or error messages
- Evaluating whether a page is clear and predictable
- Preparing accessibility research or usability testing tasks
- Improving experiences for people with cognitive disabilities
Recommended approach
Design for cognitive ease.
Make layouts predictable. Keep interactions stable. Use clear visual hierarchy. Give users enough context to know what is happening and what to do next.
Image credit: Disability:IN
Best practices
Keep interactions predictable
What to do:
Use consistent design patterns across pages and workflows.
Why it matters:
Predictable patterns help users build a mental model of how your experience works. When elements behave differently from one page to the next, users may need to re-learn the experience.
Example:
Use links for navigation and buttons for actions. Avoid styling a link like a button if it behaves like a link.
Reduce visual density
What to do:
Use spacing, headings, grouping, and clear sections to make content easier to scan.
Why it matters:
Dense pages can make it hard to know where to focus. Users may struggle to understand how information is organized.
Example:
Break a long page into sections with descriptive headings instead of presenting all content in one block.
Create clear visual hierarchy
What to do:
Make important information easy to identify.
Why it matters:
When everything looks the same, users have to guess what matters most.
Example:
Use headings, clear boundaries, and visible interactive states to show how content is related.
Limit visual noise
What to do:
Avoid competing alerts, aggressive animations, excessive colours, and disruptive sounds.
Why it matters:
Too many cues can overload attention and make it hard to filter what is important.
Example:
Use one clear notification instead of multiple banners, pop-ups, and sounds at the same time.
Provide guidance and reassurance
What to do:
Give users clear labels, instructions, examples, and state changes.
Why it matters:
Without enough context, even simple tasks can feel uncertain.
Example:
After a form is submitted, show a clear confirmation message near the user’s current focus.
Reduce unnecessary effort
What to do:
Simplify long flows. Let users pause, save, or come back when possible.
Why it matters:
Many small frictions can add up. A task may become overwhelming even when no single step is a complete blocker.
Example:
Avoid long forms that time out without warning or workflows that lose progress after a page refresh.
Common mistakes to avoid
Avoid: Changing page layouts or interaction patterns without a clear reason.
Why: Users may lose confidence when they cannot predict what will happen.
Do this instead: Reuse familiar patterns and give clear cues when something changes.
Avoid: Relying on plain language alone.
Why: Some users also need examples, previews, tooltips, or additional context.
Do this instead: Offer simple instructions first, with optional detail when needed.
Avoid: Creating pages with little structure.
Why: Minimal design can still be cognitively overwhelming.
Do this instead: Use headings, spacing, grouping, and clear calls to action.
Examples
Before publishing a page or flow, ask:
- Does the layout make sense?
- Can users easily find and understand information?
- Are interactions stable and clearly labelled?
- Does the experience show users what changed?
- Can any step take less effort?
- Can complex flows be simplified, paused, or saved?
What to do next
Review one important workflow in your product. Look for places where users may need to reorient, guess, or repeat effort.
Then prioritize the changes that will make the experience clearer and more predictable.