Perception

Perception as a cognitive process is how we, as humans, receive information about our environment. The whirring of a fan in the background, the feel of the keys on your keyboard going down, the sound of them clicking and clacking in response to you pressing them, and the smell morning dewdrops coming through the windows are all examples of how one uses their various senses to gather information about their environment everyday. Perception works alongside other cognitive processes such as attention, memory, and language to give meaning to all of the information being given to us at any moment. (Preece, Rogers,& Sharpe, 2015, p. 70)

When considering Perception through the lens of interaction design, we’re considering the best ways in which to present information to the user. How we present information should be easily recognizable across multiple mediums, and having two or three methods of conveying the same information to ensure the meaning is properly conveyed is important (Preece, Rogers,& Sharpe, 2015, p. 71). For example, consider your phone. When you receive a call or a text message, how does your device present that information to you? On most devices, the screen will “wake up”, visually indicating that there is something that requires your attention, while at the same time playing a ringtone, giving you an auditory indication that you have a notification, and lastly, most devices will also vibrate, giving you a tactile indication that you have a new notification.

But then what? How do you know which notification you are receiving? If you’re receiving multiple notifications how do you tell them apart? Like I talked about in my last blog post, Icons as metaphors are important for this, but else can a designer do to make sure if you get both an email and text message that you can easily see which is which, and quickly check which is more important at the moment?

If you’re like most people, you have your phone on vibrate most of the time, so auditory feedback is out, but visual feedback is the key. Using blank space to separate information and using borders to section it off, is the route most smartphone interfaces take, and it’s the route largely recommended by research and those with experience in the industry (Preece, Rogers,& Sharpe, 2015, p. 71).

Presentation of information has been a topic of interest for me for a long time as I study Game Design, and look into what good game design looks like. Often, efficient and clear presentation of information is one of the most critical parts of designing a game that people will enjoy playing, and seeing some of the theory behind how information should be presented was great opportunity to learn more about a fascinating topic.

References

Preece, Rogers, & Sharp, (2015). Interaction Design: Beyond Human Computer Interaction. West Sussex, United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.