Agent skill

Cognitive Load Assessment

by Owl-Listener in Owl-Listener/inclusive-design-skills

Assess and reduce cognitive load in interfaces, flows, and content.

MITAuto-check passedFrontend & Design

Install Cognitive Load Assessment

skills CLI
$ npx skills add Owl-Listener/inclusive-design-skills --skill cognitive-load-assessment -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install Owl-Listener/inclusive-design-skills cognitive-load-assessment --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/Owl-Listener/inclusive-design-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/cognitive-accessibility/skills/cognitive-load-assessment .claude/skills/cognitive-load-assessment && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
cognitive-load-assessment
GitHub stars
105
Token cost
~682 tokens
SKILL.md length
305 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
55
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Assess and reduce cognitive load in interfaces, flows, and content.

  • Works in 5 steps: Walk through the flow as a user who is… → At each screen, count: decisions, things… → Note where you pause, re-read, or feel… → …
  • Reviewing any multi-step process
  • SKILL.md covers The Three Types of Cognitive…, Assessment Framework, How to Assess and Reduction Strategies, plus 1 more section
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Cognitive Load Assessment is an agent skill from Owl-Listener/inclusive-design-skills. Assess and reduce cognitive load in interfaces, flows, and content. Use when designing or reviewing any multi-step process, complex form, dashboard, decision flow, or information-dense screen. Triggers on: cognitive load, too complex, overwhelmed, too many steps, decision fatigue, confusing, information overload, simplify this flow. Applies to any interface where users must think, decide, or remember.

Its SKILL.md is about 680 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Frontend & Design. The repository describes itself as: Inclusive design skills for AI coding agents — from cognitive accessibility to adaptive interfaces, inclusive research, and accessibility decision-making. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Reviewing any multi-step process
  • Information-dense screen
  • : cognitive load
  • Decision fatigue

Example prompts

  • “/cognitive-load-assessment”

Workflow steps

5 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. Walk through the flow as a user who is tired, stressed, and unfamiliar
  2. At each screen, count: decisions, things to remember, new concepts
  3. Note where you pause, re-read, or feel uncertain — those are load spikes
  4. Map the load type: is the difficulty intrinsic or extraneous?
  5. Recommend specific reductions for each extraneous load source

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 6e0740f. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Cognitive Load Assessment loads about 682 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 108 tokens; SKILL.md has 305 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~108
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~682

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from Owl-Listener/inclusive-design-skills at commit 6e0740f, republished under its MIT licence (© Owl-Listener). 305 words, ~682 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/cognitive-load-assessment/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
cognitive-load-assessment
description
Assess and reduce cognitive load in interfaces, flows, and content. Use when designing or reviewing any multi-step process, complex form, dashboard, decision flow, or information-dense screen. Triggers on: cognitive load, too complex, overwhelmed, too many steps, decision fatigue, confusing, information overload, simplify this flow. Applies to any interface where users must think, decide, or remember.

Cognitive Load Assessment

Assess cognitive load across three dimensions and provide actionable recommendations to reduce unnecessary burden on users.

The Three Types of Cognitive Load

Intrinsic load — complexity inherent in the task itself. A tax return is intrinsically complex. You cannot simplify the tax code. Focus: break into manageable steps, provide context, explain terms.

Extraneous load — complexity added by the design, not the task. Confusing navigation, unclear labels, inconsistent patterns, visual clutter. Focus: eliminate ruthlessly. Every instance is a fixable design failure.

Germane load — effort invested in the actual task. This is the load you WANT. The user engaging with their real goal. Focus: maximise this by removing the other two.

Assessment Framework

For each screen or step, evaluate:

DimensionLow (good)Medium (review)High (redesign)
Decisions required0–12–34+
Items to rememberNone1–23+
New concepts to learnNone12+
Steps to complete1–23–56+
Reading complexityPlain languageSome jargonDense/technical
Visual complexityClean, focusedModerateCluttered

If any dimension rates High, that screen needs redesign before launch.

How to Assess

  1. Walk through the flow as a user who is tired, stressed, and unfamiliar
  2. At each screen, count: decisions, things to remember, new concepts
  3. Note where you pause, re-read, or feel uncertain — those are load spikes
  4. Map the load type: is the difficulty intrinsic or extraneous?
  5. Recommend specific reductions for each extraneous load source

Reduction Strategies

  • Progressive disclosure: show only what the current step needs
  • Smart defaults: pre-select the most common option
  • Chunking: group into sets of 3–5 related items
  • Recognition over recall: show options, don't make users remember
  • Persistent context: show key selections throughout a flow
  • One primary action per screen: de-emphasise secondary actions

Output Format

Present the assessment as a screen-by-screen table showing load ratings, followed by prioritised recommendations sorted by impact.

© Owl-Listener, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in cognitive-accessibility/skills/cognitive-load-assessment of Owl-Listener/inclusive-design-skills.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 6e0740f

Compare with similar skills

Cognitive Load Assessment next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Cognitive Load Assessment compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Cognitive Load Assessment this skillOwl-Listener/inclusive-design-skills105—~682Automated safety check: PassMIT
Web Artifacts Builderanthropics/skills180k40 repos~769Automated safety check: PassApache-2.0
React Doctormakeplane/plane61k12 repos~657Automated safety check: PassAGPL-3.0
Impeccablebestofjs/bestofjs3.1k26 repos~2.6kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Figma Design System Builderwarpdotdev/warp65k2 repos~4.4kAutomated safety check: PassAGPL-3.0
Web Interface Guidelines Reviewervercel-labs/openreview1.7k97 repos~308Automated safety check: PassNone

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Questions about Cognitive Load Assessment

What does Cognitive Load Assessment do?

Assess and reduce cognitive load in interfaces, flows, and content. Cognitive Load Assessment is an agent skill from Owl-Listener/inclusive-design-skills. Assess and reduce cognitive load in interfaces, flows, and content.

When should I use Cognitive Load Assessment?

Cognitive Load Assessment fits situations like: reviewing any multi-step process; information-dense screen; : cognitive load; decision fatigue.

How do I install Cognitive Load Assessment in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add Owl-Listener/inclusive-design-skills --skill cognitive-load-assessment -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (cognitive-accessibility/skills/cognitive-load-assessment in Owl-Listener/inclusive-design-skills) into .claude/skills/cognitive-load-assessment in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Cognitive Load Assessment in Codex?

Run `npx skills add Owl-Listener/inclusive-design-skills --skill cognitive-load-assessment -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (cognitive-accessibility/skills/cognitive-load-assessment in Owl-Listener/inclusive-design-skills) into .agents/skills/cognitive-load-assessment in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Cognitive Load Assessment in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add Owl-Listener/inclusive-design-skills --skill cognitive-load-assessment -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/cognitive-load-assessment, .gemini/skills/cognitive-load-assessment, .github/skills/cognitive-load-assessment and .opencode/skills/cognitive-load-assessment in your project.

What does Cognitive Load Assessment need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Cognitive Load Assessment is instructions for the agent only.

Does Cognitive Load Assessment access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Cognitive Load Assessment safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Cognitive Load Assessment use?

Cognitive Load Assessment is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Cognitive Load Assessment use?

About 682 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 2.7k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Cognitive Load Assessment?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Cognitive Load Assessment: Web Artifacts Builder (anthropics/skills, 180k stars), React Doctor (makeplane/plane, 61k stars), Impeccable (bestofjs/bestofjs, 3.1k stars) and Figma Design System Builder (warpdotdev/warp, 65k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Cognitive Load Assessment?

Owl-Listener (a GitHub user) maintains it in Owl-Listener/inclusive-design-skills, which has 105 GitHub stars. The repository holds 55 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on June 9, 2026.

Source: Owl-Listener/inclusive-design-skills on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.