Balancing cognitive load in design work: A conceptual and narrative review

Designers address complex and even wicked problems, which requires them to deal with high levels of uncertainty and ambiguity, requiring high levels of mental effort. The cognitive load of designing is thus likely to affect design behaviours, activities and method use. However, the nature of design work presents a challenge in applying existing theory on cognitive load to explain and predict design behaviour. Especially designers' tendency to expand the design space to increase creative potential seems to fall outside the current theories on cognitive load. Following recent calls for theory-building within design, this paper outlines a conceptual framework mapping the relationship between cognitive load and the process of framing and reframing. We examine this dynamic between cognitive load and design by drawing upon theories rooted in cognitive science and information processing. Through a narrative review and conceptual modelling, we propose a model suggesting that cognitive load can be managed.