It’s Monday, I’m Nithya Sudhir. I collect words, chase patterns, and write about whatever makes me curious.
Open. Drop. Shake.
Ever noticed how the products we trust the fastest are usually the easiest to use?
Or how often these products come with instructions that sound like they were written for a sleepy raccoon?
Oreo’s Twist, Link, Dunk. Or instant noodles that promise Add hot water. Wait. Eat. Or frozen meals that say Peel. Heat. Enjoy.
We don’t just like simple instructions. We trust them. Why?
It’s Monday. Let’s get into it.
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If it’s easy to read, it’s easy to do
In an experiment conducted by psychologists Norbert Schwarz and Hyunjin Song, participants were given a short set of instructions for a simple exercise.
They were asked to read the instructions and answer one question.
“How long do you think the task would take?”
For some participants, the instructions were printed in a clean, familiar font that was easy to read. The words flowed smoothly, and nothing about the page demanded extra effort.
These participants estimated that the exercise would take a little over eight minutes to complete.
The others received the exact same instructions, word for word, but printed in a difficult-to-read font.
When these participants were asked the same question, their answers changed dramatically. They estimated that the exercise would take nearly twice as long, around fifteen minutes.
When a product requires long explanations, dense setup guides or has disclaimers, our brain starts asking questions: “Why is this so complicated?” or “Am I going to mess this up?”
The fix is super simple: remove the thinking.
The psychology behind “easy”
Three psychological effects explain why simplicity works so reliably.
1. Cognitive Fluency is the ease with which your brain processes information.
When something is easy to understand, your brain trusts it more, likes it more, and believes it more. That’s why simple instructions feel credible.
2. Effort Heuristic is a mental shortcut where people judge value based on how much effort something seems to require. If something feels low-effort to use, the brand behind it appears more competent and well-designed.
When a product explicitly tells you there are only a few simple steps, something inside you changes.
As the steps become obvious, your brain stops questioning.
It does not scan for risks or hidden effort.
It moves from evaluating to accepting.
You feel ready before you have even started.
The easiest way to brush, Bite
Bite is an oral care brand that replaces traditional toothpaste with chewable toothpaste tablets.
The brand was built around eliminating plastic waste while making everyday habits easier, not harder.
Bite collapses a new behavior into three obvious steps
Their instructions are simple and memorable: bite the tablet, brush with a wet toothbrush, rinse. No measuring, squeezing, or guessing required.
The steps remove fear around doing it wrong
Chewing toothpaste sounds unfamiliar at first, but the clear steps reassure users that there’s only one correct way to use it.
Customers talk about ease before sustainability
Reviews often mention how simple and mess-free the product feels, with sustainability becoming a bonus rather than the burden.
Bite has grown rapidly within the eco-friendly DTC space and has been widely adopted by consumers looking to reduce plastic without changing their routines.
Their success comes from making the sustainable choice feel effortless, not virtuous or complicated.
How other brands can design for trust
Make the first success moment effortless
Reduce the number of steps required before the user experiences their first win, because early effort feels like early risk.
Let the product explain itself
Replace long instructions with intuitive design so users learn by doing, not by reading.
Remove thinking wherever possible
Eliminate unnecessary setup, sign-ups, or decisions that force users to pause and reconsider.
Design for immediate confidence
When something works right away, users feel capable and in control, which increases trust and satisfaction.
Treat simplicity as a trust signal
Ease is not just good UX, it tells users the brand is competent and has already handled the complexity.
Cognitive fluency is quickly becoming one of the most powerful tools in a marketer’s playbook. When something feels effortless, trust forms naturally.
Think about this: if trust is built in moments like these, where could your product be simpler right now?
How's the depth of today's edition?
As always, hit reply if something in here hits home.
See you next week,
Nithya
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