cognitive-fluency-psychology

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

1. Identify high-stakes content.
2. Run a 5-second comprehension check.
3. Find unclear words, weak hierarchy, and dense blocks.
4. Rewrite for plain language and visible structure.
5. Compare before and after.
6. 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

• Thinking, Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman
• Don't Make Me Think - Steve Krug
• Hemingway Editor - Readability checker
• WebAIM Contrast Checker

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]