The work aims to explore a more efficient way of retrieving Miao embroidery patterns by conducting a comparative study on the cognitive load during hand-drawn sketch retrieval and text-based retrieval processes. A cognitive load information retrieval model was constructed to experimentally compare the average cognitive load and required time across five cognitive stages. Eye-tracking metrics (such as dwell time, saccade amplitude, and pupil diameter) and NASA-TLX evaluations were employed to analyze the cognitive load of the two retrieval processes. Finally, visual eye-tracking data (heatmap and gaze path) were obtained to validate whether they met the requirements of the retrieval task. The graph retrieval method based on hand-drawn sketches is found to be more suitable for Miao embroidery pattern retrieval. The efficiency of sketch retrieval is validated through subjective and objective integrated comparative experiments. Additionally, the correlation between eye-tracking and NASA-TLX is confirmed, making them more effective for measuring cognitive load.