This Week:
The Art of Less – Understanding Performance Load
Let's face it, in a world where everyone is drowning in data, the real skill isn't in adding more information to the pool but in knowing when to say, “Enough is enough.” Performance Load—the concept that not every idea, task or process should be crammed into a single brain space—teaches us that less truly is more. Visual thinking is about distilling complexity into clarity, turning a tangled web of ideas into a neat, navigable roadmap. And honestly, who wouldn't want that?
When Brains Began to Sweat
Performance Load, believe it or not, didn't spring fully formed from the heads of tech gurus in Silicon Valley. This little gem has its roots in the mid-20th century, when cognitive scientists first started playing around with the idea that the human brain, contrary to what we might wish, is not an all-powerful supercomputer. George A. Miller, a Harvard psychologist, hit the nail on the head in 1956 when he proposed the ‘Magic Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two’ theory that our working memory can only hold a handful of items at a time.
Miller’s quote, "My problem is that I have been persecuted by an integer," brilliantly captures the limits of our cognitive capacities. It’s a reminder that the struggle is real—and that less is often more. We can’t juggle 20 balls at once; sometimes, it’s a miracle if we manage three. In our world, where every additional piece of information is another ball thrown into the mix, the concept of Performance Load is more relevant than ever.
Performance Load in the World of Design: The Art of Restraint
In design, Performance Load isn’t just a principle—it’s essential. Whether it’s a website, product or artwork, how much you demand from your audience can make or break the experience.
Consider Apple’s design philosophy. Their products, from the iPhone to the MacBook, are revered for their simplicity. But this simplicity is the result of a calculated effort to reduce cognitive load. Jonathan Ive, Apple’s former Chief Design Officer, highlighted this when he said, "Design is the fundamental soul of a man-made creation." Apple products are intuitive because every element serves a clear purpose.
Graphic design offers similar insights. Think of Saul Bass’s minimalist movie posters—like those for Vertigo—which convey the essence of a film with just a few shapes and colours. By limiting details, Bass engaged viewers without overwhelming them.
Pop Culture Reflections: A Song and a Story
Now, let’s dive into the creative pool. Consider Radiohead’s album Kid A, a disorienting, fragmented masterpiece that leaves listeners scrambling to make sense of it all. It’s not just an album; it’s a lesson in cognitive overload. Thom Yorke himself described the creation process as "the sound of a band falling apart." But here’s the twist—it’s precisely this disjointedness that makes Kid A so compelling. The fragmented nature of the music forces the listener to pick up the pieces, to fill in the blanks, to engage. And isn’t that just another way of saying that by reducing what’s there, you increase what’s needed from the audience?
Or take The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Its absurdity is its charm, but the book is also a study in minimalist storytelling. Despite the intergalactic travels and complex science-fiction themes, Adams strips down the narrative to its core essentials, often leaving out what most authors would consider crucial details. The result? A reader who is both entertained and intellectually engaged. Less detail means more thinking—Adams knew the value of cognitive workload before it was cool.
Performance Load in the Wild – Our Work at We Are Cognitive
At We Are Cognitive, we’ve turned Performance Load into an art form. When we create whiteboard animations or explainer videos, our goal isn’t to overwhelm viewers with every possible detail. Instead, we streamline. We strip down complex concepts to their most essential parts, using visuals to ease the cognitive burden. Our rich pictures and illustrations aren’t just about being pretty—they’re about being smart, about guiding the viewer to understanding without drowning them in information.
Take our work on the UN FAO's Acceleration Zone. We started with a mountain of project features and facts, but instead of forcing our audience to climb it, we built a staircase. Each visual, each animation, was designed to carry just enough information to the next step—no more, no less. The result? A narrative that informs, teaches, enables, and inspires without ever feeling like a cognitive marathon. Watch our animation for the UN FAO here.
The Four Pillars: Inform, Develop, Enable, Animate – A Critical Analysis
Our approach at We Are Cognitive revolves around four key pillars: Inform, Develop, Enable, Animate. These aren’t just buzzwords; they’re the foundation of how we help people change—whether that’s what they know, what they can do, how they act, or what they believe. And guess what? Performance Load plays a role in each one.
Inform: We make data clear by not overloading it with unnecessary details. Information is powerful, but only when it’s digestible.
Develop: Step-by-step visual instruction reduces cognitive strain, making learning more accessible and effective.
Enable: By signposting decisions, we simplify complex choices, enabling users to act confidently without feeling overwhelmed.
Animate: Inspiration isn’t about filling minds with ideas; it’s about sparking the right ones. Less clutter, more clarity.
How Ideas Interact and Lead to New Insights
Here’s the thing about ideas—they’re not islands. When you reduce the cognitive load, when you strip away the noise, ideas have room to breathe, to connect, to grow. It’s like pruning a tree: you cut back so the remaining branches can flourish. Visual thinking, the heart of what we do, is all about creating those connections, allowing seemingly disparate concepts to intersect and spark new insights.
The Weight of Simplicity
Simplicity isn’t simple. It’s hard work, and it’s incredibly valuable. The fewer moving parts, the less there is to go wrong—but also, the more there is to think about. Performance Load isn’t just about doing less; it’s about making what you do count more. In a world obsessed with productivity, the real challenge is learning when to stop.
We Are Cognitive at The Pharmacy Show 2024
Being part of The Pharmacy Show 2024 at the NEC Birmingham on October 13th and 14th is more than just an exciting opportunity—it’s a chance to have real conversations and use visual thinking to share important ideas. Live scribing talks from leading voices in the medical and pharmaceutical world isn’t just about capturing words; it’s about distilling the key moments that count. At our booth, we won’t just offer comms advice or draw your portrait; we’ll help you connect with what’s most important. If you’re there, come find us—sometimes, it’s the simple interactions that make the biggest impact. Get more details here.
Further Reading: A Book to Make You Think Again
If you’re intrigued by the concept of Performance Load and want to explore it further, I recommend Edward Tufte’s The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. Tufte’s work is a masterclass in the art of saying more with less. His approach to data visualisation isn’t just about making things look good; it’s about making them work. He shows us how to reduce cognitive load without sacrificing depth, offering a powerful argument for why simplicity and clarity should always be the ultimate goal.
Have you ever been in a meeting where you could just feel your team's energy slipping away? Sometimes meetings drag on, and fresh ideas are as rare as a decent cup of tea, well, in the whole of America!