UX Tip #7: Chunking — Help users read and memorize content more effectively
UX Tip #7: Chunking — Help users read and memorize content more effectively
Based on cognitive psychology, chunking will help your users read, process and memorise content.
Pro tip: Break down long text & image content into logical chunks to improve usability.
What is chunking
Chunking is breaking down text or media content into smaller bits to help users read, process and understand it better.
💡 The most common real-life example of chunking is the typical phone number format (e.g. +1 234 567 8910 in the US). Phone numbers are chunked into separate parts so that people are able to memorize them better, or scan them in a phone book.
When to use it
You can apply chunking to a plethora of use cases:
Long numbers that are hard to memorize
Long text that is hard to read
Long lists of items that are hard to scan
How to use it with numbers
Use chunking when dealing with long numbers, such as:
Phone numbers
Payment card numbers
Banking numbers, e.g. IBAN, SWIFT, Sort Codes, Account Numbers
One-time passcodes (OTP)
Users will find it much easier to remember numbers, or parts of a number, if they are chunked especially if they follow a standard format.
Having said that, you shouldn't rely on chunking alone for improving usability. When dealing with very long numbers or text, the best option is to provide users with a quick option to copy the content. Chunking might still helpful, but in most cases, copying the number will be much more useful than trying to memorize it.
How to use it with text
Use chunking with long-form text to make it more digestible for your users. Try breaking down big paragraphs of text into shorter ones, and make them more scannable by adding headlines or additional formatting.
How to use it with UX controls (filters, navigation)
Chunking can be very useful with navigation or other common UX patterns such as filtering and sorting. Splitting out a long list of filters into logical chunks may make it way easier for your users to scan and find the filter they are looking for.
When not to use it
Don't use chunking when dealing with short text or short numbers, unless you are adhering to a standard format e.g. zipcodes/postcodes.
Avoid chunking content so much that it lands up being harder to process.
Bonus: Miller’s law and the magical number seven
In the book "The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two", psychologist George Armitage Miller makes a case for organizing information into chunks of 5-9 items (7 plus or minus 2).
This is very much a contradictory theory that has long been discussed and debated in the UX design field. Miller's suggestion for chunking stands true till this day, but the reality is that there is no magic number that works for everything, so trying to always use 5-9 items at most isn't necessary.
What are some examples?
Most financial apps leverage chunking as a way to make OTPs (One time passwords) or Account Numbers easier to remember.
Airbnb and Booking.com are good examples of using chunking in filter controls.