When we were young, we could play with a building block and dress up the doll for a day; when we grow up, with the fragmentation of time and the accelerating pace of life, our attention is gradually distracted, and we concentrate on doing one thing. It’s getting harder and harder. Based on this, the author of this article analyzes it from a psychological perspective and shares seven UI design tips.
AUI, Augmented User Interface or Augmented User Interaction, refers to the user-seen interface that combines virtual and real with visual or in-depth information.
Human attention is very limited. Even if external stimuli are received by us through the sensory system, the information that can obtain our attention is still very limited.
When we have a purposeful interaction with the interface, some behaviors and methods will therefore become predictable or follow certain patterns. In order to allow users to better interact with humans and computers, many principles in design arise from this.
In the design of AUI, what interacts with the user is the whole world that combines reality and virtuality. The colorful, real or illusion images in the interface that the user sees are a bonus item for the experience and a risk factor that consumes their attention.
Therefore, we have to continue to discuss how to allow users to operate smoothly and reasonably in UI design without consuming their attention at will or being completely ignored by their attention.
So what exactly is “attention”?
Although we have a very intuitive understanding of this, the definition of “attention” in the field of cognitive psychology has had a long, tortuous, and controversial study and discussion until now.
But one thing is widely recognized, that is, the essence of attention is a choice. While people pay attention to the selected information, they must ignore the unselected information. As UI is a concrete presentation of information between human and machine, designers have to compete with users’ attention all the time.
Why should we compete?
Because our attention is really limited, you can straighten your arms, and the size of your attention relative to all the input information is equivalent to the size of your thumb nail relative to the entire field of view.
Of course, this is just a metaphor. To be precise, this metaphor is the size of the fovea area of our retina relative to the entire retina.
1. Design the most suitable visual flow to wake up or save users’ attention consumption
In the article “The Enlightenment of Our Visual System to AR Design”, I have talked about the central field of view. The image of the central field of view is projected on the fovea area of our retina; and the image projected outside the fovea will have rapid clarity. Decrease, the resolution of the peripheral vision is basically the same as what we can see through the misty bathroom glass.
The image projected on such a small area as the fovea is probably full of one button.
Really allow users to read the entire interface you designed without barriers. It is composed of the continuity of the visual system in time. The peripheral visual information outside the fovea will continuously guide the eye movement, so that the central visual field can quickly browse to supplement The entire field of view.
This is the importance of showing “visual flow” in interface design.
The visual flow is the gaze tracking when the user scans the page. A good design allows people to flow along it in a smooth order. The average person’s habit is from left to right and top to bottom. For example, a center-aligned text is better than Paragraphs aligned to the left will consume more attention, because unconscious eye movements will bring us back to the same starting position in the next line. At this time, information from the peripheral vision will guide users to make conscious adjustments.
Of course, this does not mean that the center-aligned typesetting is necessarily bad. Sometimes, we may need to rely on this little consumption to wake up his attention.
2. Use the “4±1” rule (instead of “7±1”) to structure the interface layout
In addition to the physical limitation of the fovea, the capacity of working memory is also a reason for the limitation of attention. Working memory is what you remember temporarily. Many people know that the magic number “7” is the capacity of working memory.
To be precise, it was proposed by the cognitive psychologist Miller in the 1950s. It refers to the limit on the number of things that humans can remember at the same time that are not related to each other. The “7±2” rule is also used in many interfaces. In the design.
It is worth mentioning that subsequent experiments and studies have concluded that this “7” is on the high side, and now psychologists are more inclined to believe that “4±1” is closer to the average human working memory capacity. As I mentioned in the previous article, 4±1 is a more ideal presentation mode on the interface.
But in actual projects, the functions that many interfaces need to carry are far greater than 4. In many ToB projects I have undertaken, some pages cannot even support 7+2.
And when we look back at the definition of this magic number, we find that there is a very interesting word in it: “unrelated”. In other words, through classification and integration, using the Gestalt principle to present visual information to users in a structured manner, users can temporarily receive more information.
3. A fixed path or location will save the user’s attention. If you want to wake it up, you need to think about it.
Because attention is very limited, most of the time, we tend to use automated thinking.
That is, we will be more inclined to choose the familiar path. The most common, many users know that there are shortcut keys to use, but still choose to use the mouse to select a lower-level operation of a certain sub-function under a certain function in the top bar , They clicked several times in a row, just not to memorize the shortcut key formed by the three-key combination.
This is an inert behavior, under which users are willing to pay for a longer chain of interactions in order to reduce their brains.
When users have formed inert behavior, the cost of making changes is higher than expected. People don’t even read the text or graphics above, and only rely on a fixed path or location to operate. If you want to re-plan, it is best to keep the original operation for a period of time.
4. Try to get caught, don’t try to consume users’ attention all the time
Generally speaking, the upper limit of people’s attention to maintain concentration is 7-10 minutes. After 10 minutes, the brain needs a short rest to concentrate again. Even the design of professional and technical-assisted applications that require a high degree of user concentration requires appropriate relaxation points.
I have done an AR application that assists in aircraft manufacturing before. It requires several recognition inputs to the final interposing link. Each link actually requires a high degree of concentration of the staff. Every breakpoint (such as the interface Display instead of continuous display) is the time when the brain can get a short rest.
5. The interface has traces to follow, pull back the user’s mind at any time
We know that attention is very limited and does not last long. Besides, it is very unstable.
The “4±1” positions in the temporary memory will be replaced by new content at any time. In AUI design, the original rich and variable stimuli in the real world have become a high-risk source of instability. It is difficult to completely imagine what will affect the user’s original concentration in the interface in actual use.
Each interface provides external information that can be recalled by him. Recognition is much easier than memorizing, such as clearly displaying the status and progress of the task, clearly distinguishing read and unread, completed and unfinished status, etc. .
6. The scary heavy weapon is not necessary, but some changes are worth noting, you can move it slightly
Of course, when it comes to attention, I have to say some heavy weapons, such as the sudden modal window, the animated red that represents danger, and there are huge and sudden noises and warning sounds.
Because of the dangers involved, our human genetic characteristics will make us pay special attention to them. If these scary weapons are not necessary, try not to use them, otherwise it will become a story of “the wolf is coming”.
But at the same time, due to the existence of change blindness, we may turn a blind eye to changes outside the goal. For example, when you pay too much attention to prices, you may turn a blind eye to changes in pictures elsewhere on the page. If you really need it, you can use lighter motion effects to guide your attention.
7. Head and tail are important
The beginning is the first impression that the user starts to concentrate on the dialogue with the machine. It will become the cornerstone of the user’s evaluation of the entire system.
And a complete finishing touch is the thoughtfulness of a software. After all, when the user completes a certain goal, once the attention disappears, it is easy to miss some simple finishing tasks, such as returning to the initial state and forgetting the screen.
A good first impression and a complete ending are the reasons why users choose to focus on this again and open this app or product.