This is another Medium article about cognition and user interfaces that seems to be based on speculative assertions about user behavior. And they aren't convincing.
Claims about UI/UX regarding 'cognitive load' based solely on conjecture sound like pure pseudoscience. The 'Hollow Icons' article was an egregious example:
If you've accepted the premise that cognitive load theory is going to be a major part of your design/ui decisions, and you're going to invoke it, then I think some meaningful testing is necessary.
Arial, believe it or not, wasn't originally designed for the screen. It's not an optimized Helvetica, it's a generic looking franken-Grotesque that was billed as a low-rent Helvetica. And that's pretty much what it is.
Some of the other 'Microsoft core fonts' (Arial was originally designed by Monotype in 1982, not Microsoft) were actually designed for low resolution screen display, like Georgia and Verdana. Arial is better hinted than some of the versions of Helvetica out there, especially some of the lousy ones more common to older PCs. It has a high x-height and was designed to be readable at smaller sizes—in print. But so was Helvetica.
In fact, one of the virtues of Helvetica is that it's pretty legible as body text. Like any typeface, it can be abused, but it's not a crime to use it for body copy. Just make sure not to track it too tightly.
As high resolution displays become more commonplace, concerns about hinted type should lessen. And having to design fat, wide letters for crude raster grids will hopefully become a thing of the past—like old terminal displays.
One last thing: Helvetica's a pretty sweet looking typeface; contrary to its reputation, not at all 'neutral', it has midcentury charm and character without looking too dated. Give it its due!
https://www.google.com/search?&q=cognitive+load+site:medium....
Claims about UI/UX regarding 'cognitive load' based solely on conjecture sound like pure pseudoscience. The 'Hollow Icons' article was an egregious example:
https://medium.com/design-ux/a93647e5a44b
If you've accepted the premise that cognitive load theory is going to be a major part of your design/ui decisions, and you're going to invoke it, then I think some meaningful testing is necessary.