Microlearning: Chunking information into smaller parts (part 1 of 2)

Microlearning is a method often used in e-learning. It involves breaking information into smaller parts so that it becomes easier to absorb. In this article we explain more about what microlearning is and why it is important for your users. In part 2 you’ll get concrete tips on how you can make use of the method on your website.

Today we consume more and more information via mobile — often when we have spare moments in the checkout line or on the bus on the way to work. When designing digital experiences to be consumed on a smaller screen, the content must be adapted accordingly. Content often needs to be divided or grouped differently compared with how it would be consumed on a larger screen. Partly so everything fits and partly so the user doesn’t become cognitively overloaded and confronted with too many stimuli at once. At the same time the content should be responsive and work just as well regardless of which device is used. Perhaps this is also why microlearning has become increasingly important when we design digital experiences.

What is microlearning?

Microlearning is based on cognitive research into how information becomes stored in long-term memory. It has been shown that people find it easier to absorb information if it is grouped or presented in smaller chunks. By removing superfluous information and extracting the essence, we can lower the threshold for learning and taking in new information.

If we also portion out or break the information into smaller parts, it can make it easier for people to assimilate the information on their own terms. The method is therefore often used in e-learning where courses are digitized and divided into steps or different formats. That way learning can be made more personalized.

Chunking - UX principle for grouping things

Even in web design the UX principle of grouping things, known as chunking, has long been used. On the web users tend to skim a page to see if they find anything of interest. The eye often jumps to and latches onto particular scanning points such as headings, images, bullet lists, graphic elements or even empty space. By grouping elements and using scanning points and empty areas you can guide the user to where you want them.

Grouping and structuring are essential

Grouping things can be crucial to how we perceive our surroundings or whether we even notice things around us. Imagine walking into a grocery store to buy a liter of milk. When you enter the store, all the products are scattered about with no order at all. When new stock has been delivered, it has been placed wherever there happened to be space. It becomes a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack to find the milk. You’ll probably turn around at the door and go to the next store. If the same were to happen on your website — your customers get fed up and leave your site before they’ve even started — then you’re giving your competitors the best gift you could give them. And we guess that’s not what you want.

Everything has its place

For our customers to find the right products, the store needs a certain structure. Refrigerated goods and dry goods must be kept separate and there need to be clear signs. In a grocery store everything has its place — and the same should apply on the web. A user-friendly website is both structured and easy to navigate, with clear headings, links and calls-to-action. That way users can quickly and smoothly find what they are looking for.

When things are in order you rarely think about the structure. But as soon as it gets messy or difficult to get from A to B, we immediately notice. We might even get irritated and give up. This is precisely what UX chunking and microlearning are about: helping users find the right information and absorb it. Creating a design so intuitive it hardly registers — then we've succeeded!

Keep it informative and simple

Just as you wouldn't want to walk into a shop with goods all over the place, no customer wants to land on a website and be bombarded with information or components all vying for our attention. The trick is to be informative while keeping things simple. Easier said than done.

As a digital agency we often meet companies that have trouble limiting themselves. There is so much they want to convey and highlight on their website that it easily becomes a jumble of components all shouting for the visitor's attention. In the end nothing stands out or captures the visitor's interest. That said, a lot of information isn't always bad. As long as the information is relevant, well written and well structured, plenty of content can help the site rank higher on Google.

Chunk information

Just as refrigerated goods are separated from dry goods in a grocery store, you can structure and group your content on the web. For example by devide information into smaller parts, onto different pages, tabs or expandable elements. This way users don't have to face too much information at once — something that otherwise risks putting them off. If we instead provide too little information it can give the impression of being an unprofessional actor. It's therefore important to find a good balance. Often you need to test to see what works best.

Use different formats

Since we humans absorb information in different ways, it's useful to present information in different formats. Some prefer concise summaries or video formats, while others want to dive straight into the details. One doesn't have to exclude the other. You can combine longer text blocks with expandable elements and multimedia such as video or animation.

Start from the users needs

If we return to the shop example, your and my shopping lists will probably look a bit different before a big grocery run. In the same way your visitors' needs differ on the web. Someone might visit the site for the first time and want to read up or compare products/services. Another might come on their third visit and be ready to make a purchase decision immediately. We must therefore make the information available on the users' terms and tailored to their unique needs.

This isn't an easy match either. Sometimes you may be stuck with awkward page templates or have internal pressures about what is important to communicate. All too often this happens at the expense of users' needs. It's easy to throw things in where there's space left over. Dumping information on users is rarely a good idea. This is where UX and design come into play.

With UX principles and well-known user behaviors you can create the structure and order needed for users to find their way. So that they feel satisfied and can access information on their own terms. Sometimes this means making small tweaks like moving content around. In other cases you need to make bigger efforts and create entirely new page templates or redo the website altogether. In all cases methods like chunking and microlearning can be of great help.

Test yourself

To further explain how grouping information can support learning and our ability to remember information we want to give you a small exercise. Read the following two lines once each - but no more:

Dog, cat, horse, rabbit, fish, monkey, elephant Horse, space rocket, TV, shopping, potato gratin, screwdriver 

Which list are you most likely to remember? Probably the one containing only animals. This is because it's easier to remember grouped information that resembles one another. That allows us to reduce cognitive load, which makes it easier for us to process and recall things. 

Some examples

Microlearning and the grouping of content are everywhere in our society. Here are some examples where it helps us interpret and process information:

• A mobile number that is split up (070 - 123 45 67) is easier to remember than if we had written all the digits together (0701234567).

• A restaurant menu is often divided into starter, main course and dessert so that we as guests can easily find and order the right dish.
• A book is divided into chapters and paragraphs to make the text more readable. Sometimes there is a table of contents so readers can quickly find a specific section.
• A webpage with frequently asked questions is often divided into different categories to make it easier to find the answer to your specific question within a particular topic.
• An online shop often contains a few selected main categories which in turn are divided into subcategories. For example the main category "Pants" may contain the subcategories "Shorts" and "Long pants".

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