Human-centered design

processes of perception

• The act of perception is a fast, but complex task.

sensory memory: processing & interpretation

feature analysis: design implications

special issues: icons

• Advantages:

• they are recognized as quickly as words
• they support dual encoding
• as visual representations
• and semantically

• Disadvantages:

• difficult to develop universally recognized icons
• difficult to develop a series of clear, distinct icons to represent different content and functionality

rules of thumb: icons

visual search & detection

• Understanding how humans search and detect visual information suggest strategies for interface and graphic design

• Humans tend to search through elements on a screen in either a serial or parallel fashion looking for a targets

• The time it takes to locate a target (the desired menu item, page content, etc. ) depends upon a few variables:

• The number of items on a screen – serial search; Neisser: T=(NI)2
• Element conspicuity – parallel; things that stand out are located faster and elements noticed in parallel
• logical content organization and expectancies