A request can be short and still be hard to answer. ‘Thoughts on the thing we discussed after the meeting?’ makes the reader recover the meeting, remember the discussion and identify which decision is now needed.
Cognitive-load research examines demands on limited processing capacity, particularly in learning. It does not directly prove a particular messaging formula. The practical communication lesson proposed here is to remove avoidable reconstruction work. Sweller’s foundational paper.
Try separating background from the request: ‘About the onboarding guide: we need to choose the opening example. Would the new-customer scenario or the returning-customer scenario be clearer?’
The recipient now knows the subject and the decision. If they need supporting material, include the relevant link rather than asking them to find it.
You can make longer requests easier too. Group related questions, use meaningful labels and explain which item needs an answer first. Do not hide a deadline in the final sentence of an unrelated paragraph.
Before sending, ask: ‘What must this person remember, search for or infer before they can respond?’ Supply the necessary context and remove unnecessary work. The aim is not to make every message tiny. It is to make the task understandable.