| name | cognitive-fluency-psychology |
| description | Improve clarity by making content and interfaces easier to process. Use when auditing readability, hierarchy, labels, landing-page copy, onboarding text, or trust created by simplicity; avoid when the main issue is task complexity, choice overload, or staged information reveal. |
Cognitive Fluency
Easy to process feels safer, truer, and more useful.
Clarity beats cleverness.
When to Use
- Writing landing pages, UI copy, or documentation.
- Auditing readability.
- Improving onboarding or conversion.
- Reviewing names, labels, and instructions.
- Simplifying complex content.
Goal
Reduce mental effort.
Make the main point obvious.
Help users understand what to do next.
Rules
- Use familiar words.
- Keep sentences short.
- Put key message first.
- Use clear headings and hierarchy.
- Use readable type and strong contrast.
- Avoid jargon unless audience expects it.
- Remove clever copy that slows comprehension.
- Test important content with non-experts.
Fluency Checks
- Can a user explain the page after 5 seconds?
- Is the primary action obvious?
- Is body text at least 16px?
- Is contrast high enough?
- Are sentences mostly under 20 words?
- Does each paragraph carry one idea?
- Are labels concrete and predictable?
Flow
- Identify high-stakes content.
- Run a 5-second comprehension check.
- Find unclear words, weak hierarchy, and dense blocks.
- Rewrite for plain language and visible structure.
- Compare before and after.
- Measure task completion, bounce, conversion, or support requests.
Common Problems
- Jargon.
- Passive voice.
- Vague CTAs.
- Decorative fonts.
- Low contrast.
- Walls of text.
- Too many competing elements.
- Buried value proposition.
Resources
Output
## Cognitive Fluency Audit
- Page/content: [name]
- Main message: [current or missing]
- Problems: [clarity, hierarchy, language, contrast]
- Recommended rewrite: [copy or structure]
- Why: [fluency principle]
- Measurement: [metric]
