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Designing with the Mind in Mind, 2nd Edition

Name: Designing with the Mind in Mind, 2nd Edition
Author: Jeff Johnson
ISBN: 9780124115569

by Jeff Johnson

December 2013

Beginner

250 pages

6h 52m

English

Morgan Kaufmann

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Cover image
Title page
Table of Contents
Copyright
Acknowledgments
Foreword
Introduction
User-Interface Design Rules: Where do they come from and how can they be used Effectively?User-Interface Design and Evaluation Requires Understanding and ExperienceComparing User-Interface Design GuidelinesWhere do Design Guidelines come from?Intended Audience of this Book
Chapter 1. Our Perception is Biased
AbstractPerception Biased by ExperiencePerception Biased by Current ContextPerception Biased by GoalsTaking Biased Perception into Account When Designing
Chapter 2. Our Vision is Optimized to See Structure
AbstractGestalt Principle: ProximityGestalt Principle: SimilarityGestalt Principle: ContinuityGestalt Principle: ClosureGestalt Principle: SymmetryGestalt Principle: Figure/GroundGestalt Principle: Common FateGestalt Principles: Combined
Chapter 3. We Seek and Use Visual Structure
AbstractStructure Enhances People’s Ability to Scan Long NumbersData-Specific Controls Provide Even More StructureVisual Hierarchy Lets People Focus on the Relevant Information

Chapter 4. Our Color Vision is Limited
AbstractHow Color Vision WorksVision is Optimized for Contrast, Not BrightnessThe Ability to Discriminate Colors Depends on How Colors are PresentedColor-BlindnessExternal Factors that Influence the Ability to Distinguish ColorsGuidelines for Using Color
Chapter 5. Our Peripheral Vision is Poor
AbstractResolution of the Fovea Compared to the PeripheryIs the Visual Periphery Good for Anything?Examples from Computer User InterfacesCommon Methods of Making Messages VisibleHeavy Artillery for Making Users Notice MessagesVisual Search is Linear Unless Targets “Pop” in the Periphery
Chapter 6. Reading is Unnatural
AbstractWe’re Wired for Language, but not for ReadingIs Reading Feature-Driven or Context-Driven?Skilled and Unskilled Reading use Different Parts of the BrainPoor Information Design can Disrupt ReadingMuch of the Reading Required by Software is UnnecessaryTest on Real Users
Chapter 7. Our Attention is Limited; Our Memory is Imperfect
AbstractShort- Versus Long-Term MemoryA Modern View of MemoryCharacteristics of Attention and Working MemoryImplications of Working Memory Characteristics for User-Interface DesignCharacteristics of Long-Term MemoryImplications of Long-Term Memory Characteristics for User-Interface Design
Chapter 8. Limits on Attention Shape Our Thought and Action
AbstractWe Focus on Our Goals and Pay Little Attention to Our ToolsWe Notice Things More When they are Related to Our GoalsWe Use External Aids to Keep Track of What we are DoingWe Follow the Information “Scent” Toward Our GoalWe Prefer Familiar PathsOur Thought Cycle: Goal, Execute, EvaluateAfter We Achieve a task’s Primary Goal, We Often Forget Cleanup Steps
Chapter 9. Recognition is Easy; Recall is Hard
AbstractRecognition is EasyRecall is HardRecognition Versus Recall: Implications for User-Interface Design
Chapter 10. Learning from Experience and Performing Learned Actions are Easy; Novel Actions, Problem Solving, and Calculation are Hard
AbstractWe have Three BrainsWe have Two MindsLearning from Experience is (Usually) EasyPerforming Learned Actions is EasyPerforming Novel Actions is HardProblem Solving and Calculation are HardImplications for User-Interface DesignAnswers to Puzzles
Chapter 11. Many Factors Affect Learning
AbstractWe Learn Faster when Practice is Frequent, Regular, and PreciseWe Learn Faster when Operation is Task Focused, Simple, and ConsistentWe Learn Faster when Vocabulary is Task Focused, Familiar, and ConsistentWhen Risk is Low, we Explore More and Learn More
Chapter 12. Human Decision Making is Rarely Rational
AbstractPeople are Often IrrationalLosses Mean More to us Than GainsWe are Biased by how Choices are WordedWe are Biased by Our Vivid Imaginations and MemoriesExploiting Strengths and Weaknesses of Human Cognition
Chapter 13. Our Hand–Eye Coordination Follows Laws
AbstractFitts’ Law: Pointing at Displayed TargetsSteering Law: Moving Pointers Along Constrained Paths
Chapter 14. We Have Time Requirements
AbstractResponsiveness DefinedThe Many Time Constants of the Human BrainEngineering Approximations of time Constants: Orders of MagnitudeDesigning to Meet Real-Time Human Interaction DeadlinesAdditional Guidelines for Achieving Responsive Interactive SystemsAchieving Responsiveness is Important
Epilogue
SummaryCaveat
Appendix. Well-known User-Interface Design Rules
Norman (1983a)Shneiderman (1987); Shneiderman and Plaisant (2009)Nielsen and Molich (1990)Nielsen and Mack (1994)Stone et al. (2005)Johnson (2007)
Bibliography
Index

Content preview from Designing with the Mind in Mind, 2nd Edition

Chapter 7

Our Attention is Limited; Our Memory is Imperfect

Abstract

Human attention and memory, like vision, have strengths and weaknesses. This chapter describes some of those strengths and weaknesses as background for understanding how we can design interactive systems to support and augment attention and memory. It begins with an overview of how memory works and how it is related to attention. It includes implications of memory characteristics for user-interface design, and quick tests of short-term and long-term memory.

Keywords

memory; short-term memory; long-term memory; working memory; attention; capacity; activation; features; forgetting; modes; mode errors

Just as the human visual system has strengths and weaknesses, so do human attention ...

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Designing with the Mind in Mind, 2nd Edition

by Jeff Johnson

Our Attention is Limited; Our Memory is Imperfect