03.Cognition: How people understand systems

Read this to prepare for class discussion

Cognitive Psychology and Design

  1. Universal principles of design
    Advance Organizer, 18
  2. from Sharp, Rogers, & Preece,
    Chapter 3, Understanding users
    • Section 3.2, What is cognition?, 66-85
    • Section 3.3.3, Information processing, 89-91
    • Section 3.3.4, Distributed cognition, 91-92
    • Section 3.3.5, External cognition, 92-96
  3. Jason Withrow's "Cognitive Psychology & IA: From Theory to Practice"
    on the contribution cognitive psychology, especially visual perception, can make to interaction design (particularly interface design).

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Optional readings which may come up in class discussions

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Additional resources

HISTORY of GRAPHIC DESIGN

  • A paper by Patrick J. Lynch, entitled, "Visual design for the user interface"
    provides a history of graphical design and some psychological theories that have shaped it. Published originally in 1994, Journal of Biocommunications, 21(1):22-30

MEMORY

COGNITIVE THEORIES and HCI

GOMS

MENTAL MODELS

DISTRIBUTED COGNITION

COGNITIVE DISABILITIES

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