2.2 Learnability

• Human Memory;

  • Working Memory
  • Long-Term Memory
• Working memory; where you do you conscious thinking
• Long - Term Memory; probably the least understood part of human cognition
• Learnability; People Don't Learn Instantly
• Learnability; the ability to learn a skill or a task.
• Visibility; an essential principle probably the most important in communicating a model to the user.
• Mystery Navigation;  form of web navigation user interface whereby the target of each link is not visible until the user points their cursor at it.
• Visibility of Actions: Use Appropriate Affordances

  • Downward-Pointing Arrows
  • Texture
  • Mouse Cursor
  • Visible Highlighting
  • Make Commands Visible
  • Buttons
  • Hyperlinks
• Metaphors; one way to make an interface more learnable
• Interface Metaphor; can be horribly misused
• Presence of Metaphor; does not at all guarantee an intuitive, or easy-to-learn, user interface.
• Beautiful Graphic Design doesn't equal Usability
• People Don't Learn Instantly; Developers must be aware of how people actually learn.
• Memory; relevant part of the human machine
• Learning; the process of putting information and procedures into long-term memory.
• Working Memory; a pattern of activation of elements in the long-term memory
• 7 ± 2 things; the capacity of working memory (technically called "chunks")
• Mnemonic Techniques; convert arbitrary data into more memorable chunks.
• Good Interface; won't put heavy demands on the user's working memory.
• Data put in working memory disappears in a short time
• Distractions; can easily destroy working memory
• Long-Term Memory; contains the mass of our memories.
• Maintenance Rehearsal; involves the repetition of information in its original, unaltered form.
• Elaborative Rehearsal; seeks to make connections in existing chunks
• Good Learnability; making connections as easy as possible to make and - consistency
• Chunks; the elements of perception and memory
• TLA; three-letter acronyms
• Recognition; remembering with the help of a visible cue
• Recall; remembering something with no help from the outside world
• Elaborative Rehearsal;  a type of memory rehearsal that is useful in transferring information into long-term memory. 
• Visibility and Feedback; about the gulf of evaluation
• Efficiency; a measure of the whole cycle - the speed of execution and perception
• Interaction Styles:

  1. Command Languages
  2. Menu/Form Interface
  3. Direct Manipulation
• Command Languages; earliest computer interfaces. Job control languages for early computers, which later evolved into the Unix command line.
• Menu/Form Interface; presents a series of menus or forms to the user
• Menu Bar; a tree of menus
• Direct Manipulation; preeminent interface style for graphical user interfaces
• Three Principles of Direct Manipulation;

  1. A continuous visual representation of the system's data objects.
• Three Principles of Direct Manipulation;

  2. The user interacts with the visual representation using physical actions or labeled button presses.
• Physical actions; most direct kind of actions in direct manipulation- you're interacting with the virtual object sin a way that feels like you're pushing them around directly.