Optimizing Digital Learning Environments Based on Cognitive Load Theory: An Educational Neuropsychology Perspective on Interface and Multimedia Design in Indonesian Higher Education

Abstract

Digital learning platforms have expanded rapidly across Indonesian higher education, yet many instructional interfaces remain designed without adequate regard to the brain's limited working memory capacity, producing extraneous cognitive load that undermines learning outcomes. This study conducts a systematic literature review integrating Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) with educational neuropsychology to examine how multimedia and interface design features influence extraneous and germane cognitive load during online learning. Following the PRISMA 2020 protocol, 50 peer-reviewed articles published between 2016 and 2026 were screened from Scopus, ERIC, ScienceDirect, and SINTA-indexed Indonesian journals, focusing on experimental, quasi-experimental, and neurophysiological studies measuring cognitive load through self-report scales, electroencephalography (EEG), or functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Thematic synthesis was applied across five intervention categories: multimedia and interface design, augmented and virtual reality, adaptive and AI-based systems, neurophysiological monitoring, and instructional scaffolding. Results show that unstructured digital interfaces and excessive multimedia elements significantly elevate extraneous load, while segmentation, signaling, and spatial-temporal contiguity consistently redirect cognitive resources toward germane processing. Indonesian-context studies further reveal that platform novelty and unfamiliarity with online learning compound extraneous load beyond levels typically reported in Western samples. Neurophysiological evidence from EEG and fNIRS corroborates behavioral findings, showing measurable working-memory strain during high-extraneous-load tasks. The study concludes that optimizing digital learning environments requires interface designers to apply brain-compatible design principles, reducing seductive details, structuring segmentation, and calibrating multimedia redundancy, to align instructional design with the neurocognitive architecture of learners, particularly within resource-constrained Indonesian digital learning contexts.