Chunking describes the cognitive process in which individual units of information are bundled into coherent, processable groups – so-called chunks – in order to reduce cognitive load and facilitate information processing. This grouping allows complex content to be processed, stored and retrieved efficiently, because the brain only has to process a few, meaningfully structured units instead of many individual elements – see also: Subitizing.

For example, the following sentence is very difficult to read: BYBUNDLINGLETTERSTOWORDSTHEYBECOMEREADABLE

To make it easier to process, we group this jumble of letters into individual chunks: BY BUNDLING LETTERS TO WORDS, THEY BECOME READABLE

By chunking the letters into words, we are now able to make out the meaning of the initial jumble.

Another example of how processing can be optimized by chunking is the grouping of bits into bytes. In this process, 8 bits (1 or 0) are combined into one byte. This bundling makes it possible to perform operations such as addressing, data transmission and storage more efficiently.

Origin

The principles of chunking were already being investigated in cognitive psychology in the 1950s, with early studies by Miller (1956) showing that short-term memory can typically process around 7 +/- 2 units of information (= chunks).

  • Miller, G. A. (1956). The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information. Psychological Review, 63(2), 81–97.
  • Simon, H. A. (1974). How Big Is a Chunk?. Science, 183(4124), 482–488.

Application in UX and UI design

In UX and UI design, chunking is a useful principle for structuring complex information in a clear way and reducing the cognitive load on users. Designers can organize content into smaller, self-contained chunks of information, for example in the form of clearly defined menu items, categories or modular information cards. This visual grouping makes it easier for users to quickly grasp the essential content and supports intuitive navigation through the application. A practical example of this is the design of dashboard interfaces, where statistical key figures are grouped into separate, logically related blocks so that users can see the current status at a glance.

Impact on the User Experience

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Further information