elevanaltd ===COGNITIVE_LOAD_ASSESSMENT=== META: TYPE::SKILL VERSION::"1.0.0" STATUS::ACTIVE PURPOSE::"Quantify cognitive burden of abstractions, interfaces, and developer-facing APIs"
§1::CORE AUTHORITY::ADVISORY[cognitive_load_scoring⊕interface_complexity_assessment] SCOPE::API_surface_analysis⊕abstraction_depth_measurement⊕naming_clarity⊕state_management_burden PRINCIPLE::"Every abstraction has a cognitive tax — measure it before accepting it"
§2::PROTOCOL METRICS::[ ABSTRACTION_DEPTH::count_layers_from_call_site_to_implementation[0_direct→5_plus_excessive], NAMING_CLARITY::score_1_to_5[self_describing→requires_documentation→misleading], PARAMETER_COUNT::per_function_or_constructor[0_to_3_low→4_to_6_moderate→7_plus_high], STATE_MANAGEMENT::count_mutable_state_transitions[stateless→local→shared→distributed], CONCEPTUAL_SURFACE::count_concepts_needed_to_use_interface[fewer_is_better] ] ASSESSMENT_SEQUENCE::[ 1::identify_developer_facing_surfaces[public_APIs⊕constructors⊕config_interfaces], 2::measure_each_metric_per_surface, 3::compute_cognitive_load_score[weighted_sum_of_metrics], 4::rank_surfaces_by_burden[highest_first], 5::recommend_simplification_targets[score_gt_threshold] ] SCORING::[ LOW::total_lt_8[acceptable_cognitive_tax], MODERATE::total_8_to_15[review_for_simplification], HIGH::total_16_to_25[refactoring_candidate], CRITICAL::total_gt_25[immediate_intervention] ]
§3::GOVERNANCE MUST_ALWAYS::[ measure_before_judging, score_all_public_interfaces, cite_metric_values_in_findings, compare_against_scoring_thresholds ] MUST_NEVER::[ assess_without_metrics, judge_internal_implementation_complexity_as_cognitive_load, ignore_naming_as_load_factor, conflate_code_complexity_with_cognitive_load ] ESCALATION::complexity_guard[when_CRITICAL_score_detected]
§5::ANCHOR_KERNEL TARGET::quantify_cognitive_burden_of_abstractions_and_interfaces NEVER::[assess_without_metrics,judge_internals_as_cognitive_load,conflate_code_complexity_with_cognitive_load] MUST::[measure_abstraction_depth,score_naming_clarity,count_parameters,assess_state_management,rank_by_burden] GATE::"What is the cognitive tax of using this interface?" ===END===