How Cognitive Psychology Makes Better UX
Most UX problems don't come from bad design — they come from skipping steps.
Why Skipping Steps Breaks UX
Most UX problems don't come from bad design. They come from skipping steps. We jump into screens too fast. We start polishing before we understand. Cognitive psychology gives us the language to talk about *why* users behave the way they do — and it's the foundation of everything I do.
Fogg's Behavior Model in Practice
B.J. Fogg's Behavior Model (B = Motivation × Ability × Prompt) changed how I think about every screen. If a user doesn't complete an action, it's because: motivation is low, ability is too hard, or the prompt came at the wrong time. Designing with this model means I ask different questions at every step.
Cognitive Load Theory
Miller's Law tells us humans can hold 7 (± 2) items in working memory at a time. Yet we regularly see forms with 15 fields, dashboards with 30 KPIs, and navigation menus with 12 items. Every unnecessary element is cognitive load tax — charged against the user's attention budget.
Progressive Disclosure
The solution isn't to remove features — it's to reveal them progressively. Show only what's needed right now. Earn the right to show more. The onboarding we redesigned for a fintech client went from 12 steps shown upfront to a 3-step progressive flow — and D7 retention went up 61%.
Applying This in Government Design
In govtech, the stakes are even higher. Users aren't choosing your product — they're required to use it. That means you can't rely on intrinsic motivation. You must rely on ability and triggering. Every workflow I design for government starts with: what's the cognitive load at each step, and how do we reduce it without losing necessary complexity?
