Win Report: Less cognitive load, 41% more conversions

Win Reports help you grow your business by showing our methodology at work. Each Win Report showcases a real-world test, sharing the research, insights, and techniques that led to the win.

In the next two minutes, we’ll show you how reducing cognitive load increased conversions by 41% for one travel client.
Illustration comparing a Control variant with a fully expanded itinerary sidebar against a Variation with a collapsed, accordion-style sidebar to reduce cognitive load.

Our client operates one of the largest online travel marketplaces in its region, connecting visitors with tours, activities, flights, hotels, and vacation packages. Millions of travelers use the platform each year to plan trips to one of the world’s most spectacular destinations. The client has asked to remain anonymous.

Research: When a “helpful” widget became too much of a good thing

Product pages are where high-stakes purchases live or die. For a vacation—something visitors are often excited and stressed about in equal measure—every piece of information on the page is doing a job. The question is, how much of that job should be done at once?

During our user testing for this client, we kept seeing the same behavior. Participants stalled on the product page. In particular, they were constantly checking back and forth between the main page content and the booking widget on the right-hand side. The widget was meant to act as a useful trip summary, but in practice it divided and disrupted the participants’ attention.

This is a classic cognitive load problem. Pile up too much information at once and a visitor’s decision-making slows or stops entirely, especially if that decision has big consequences. Fortunately, a fix for cognitive overload is well-established: Progressive disclosure. Reveal information in layers, and let visitors pull on the thread when they’re ready for more.

How could we keep the widget’s usefulness while letting visitors move through the page one comfortable step at a time?

The original page (or control)

Here’s a mockup of the original product page. The content stretched much further, but you can see the start of it and the booking widget on the right-hand side.

Illustration of a travel booking page with an expanded sidebar showing dates, travelers, transfers, and a day-by-day breakdown of accommodations and tours.
The control: A product page with a booking widget showing full itinerary details alongside page content.

The tested page (or variation)

Here’s a mockup of the simplified variation we tested. The widget still exists, but we’ve transformed it into a compact, collapsible summary.

Illustration of a travel booking interface with a collapsed ‘Travel details’ sidebar showing accordion sections for Transfer, Hotels, and Tours.
Variation: The product page with a collapsed accordion booking widget showing collapsible summary sections.

Here are the key things we changed about the widget:

  • Collapsed by default: Instead of expanding all details at once, the widget now shows four collapsible sections—Travel Details, Transfer, Hotels, and Tours. Each one is visible only when the visitor chooses to open it.
  • Section edit links: Each section title includes a clear edit button, allowing visitors to adjust their selections without hunting through the page.
  • Inline navigation: Clicking any section in the widget scrolls the visitor to the corresponding content within the main page, turning the sidebar into a navigation aid.

Result: Conversions increased by 41%

During the test, we observed a 41% increase in conversions.

When visitors had more space to think, they could focus more on the decision itself. Reducing cognitive overload, it turned out, helped a lot more people reach their final destination.

What’s next

As usual, we added the test to our proprietary Wins Database, then looked for ways to apply its lessons to other parts of the client’s website and then to other clients.

If you want us to grow your profits—quickly and efficiently—check if you qualify for a free one-on-one strategy session with one of our CRO consultants.

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