Cognitive Load Reduction: The Research

Working Memory Is Limited. In ADHD, More So.

The foundational constraint behind every design decision in Ebbi.

Miller (1956) established that human working memory holds approximately 7 plus or minus 2 items simultaneously. This finding, one of the most cited in cognitive psychology, means there's a hard ceiling on how much information a person can process at once.

Martinussen and colleagues (2005) conducted a meta-analysis of working memory studies in children with ADHD and found consistent, significant deficits. ADHD brains don't just have less working memory capacity. They have less of a resource that's already limited for everyone. Every additional choice, every extra item on screen, every unnecessary decision consumes a share of that reduced capacity.

Sources

Miller, G. A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two. Psychological Review, 63(2), 101-113. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0043158

Martinussen, R., et al. (2005). A meta-analysis of working memory in children with ADHD. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry, 44(4), 377-384. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.chi.0000153228.72591.73

Cognitive Load Theory

Excess load doesn't just slow learning. It stops it.

Sweller (1988) formalized Cognitive Load Theory: when the information presented exceeds working memory capacity, learning and performance degrade. The solution is to reduce extraneous load (unnecessary complexity) so that available capacity can be devoted to intrinsic load (the actual task).

For Ebbi, this means: during a focus session, you see one task. Not your full list. Not your schedule. Not your stats. One task, one timer, one progress ring. Everything else is hidden until it's relevant. This isn't minimalism for aesthetic reasons. It's load management for a brain that can't afford to waste capacity on irrelevant information.

Sources

Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning. Cognitive Science, 12(2), 257-285. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15516709cog1202_4

Fewer Choices, Better Decisions

Choice overload is a general problem. For ADHD, it's a showstopper.

Iyengar and Lepper (2000) demonstrated that presenting 24 options instead of 6 reduced purchase likelihood by approximately 90%. More choices didn't help people decide. More choices stopped them from deciding at all.

For ADHD brains with reduced working memory and impaired executive function, this effect is amplified. Every additional option on screen is another item competing for limited cognitive resources. Ebbi addresses this throughout: the soundscape picker offers a curated set rather than an infinite library, the task input is a text field plus a time estimate rather than a multi-field form, and the session view shows only the current task rather than the full plan.

The design principle is consistent: present the minimum necessary for the current decision, and defer everything else.

Sources

Iyengar, S. S. & Lepper, M. R. (2000). When choice is demotivating. J Personality and Social Psychology, 79(6), 995-1003. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.79.6.995

How This Shapes Every Screen

Specific design decisions driven by this research.

Single-task display during sessions. You see only the current task. The full list is hidden because seeing everything at once triggers overwhelm.
Maximum 5-7 items visible without scrolling. Stays within Miller's working memory capacity limit.
One primary action per screen. Reduces decision load to a single choice at each step.
No consent dialogs on first launch. The moment a user opens the app for the first time is the worst moment to demand decisions. Cognitive load is already at its highest.