The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and rationale for the design of the Digital Process Book (DPB) learning tool for design education at the University level and discuss the similarities with applications to learning tools in K12 science education. The DPB is an interactive learning environment that is intended to promote reflection throughout a student’s design process, as well as integrate important scaffolding elements in the system that supplements the traditional inperson contact between a student and an instructor. It is based on tenets of Cognitive Load Theory, which argues that learners are not able to work to their potential if there are too many elements that they need to process in their working memory. The goal of instructional technologists and instructors is to help students decrease their extraneous cognitive load so students have more cognitive resources to focus on the tasks at hand. Design projects are complex design problems that require a way for students to organize, categorize, and sort the many artifacts and ideations that are produced in their design process. These same goals and needs for university design students are similar to learners in K12 science education.