Unit 4: How People Think

Overall I found this chapter very intriguing. I've dog-eared a few of the pages for future exploration, such as reading Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug. In many ways the bullet points in this chapter are common sense but the author gives further introspective and relates case studies for each point.

Progressive disclosure: giving information in small chunks and progressively allowing the user to click for detailed information. While this may add more clicks, if the information is presented in the right way the user won't even notice the amount of clicks as they "progress" through the information. It gives overview information up front, broader information on one click and even more detailed information on another click, allowing the user to decide how much they want to explore.

Loads: mental processes going on simultaneously. There are three types: cognitive, visual, and motor. Cognitive requires the greatest mental resource, with visual and motor following in sequential order. If you ask a user to remember something, you've engaged their "visual" load; looking at something on the screen, "visual;" and a "motor" resource is asking a user to click on something. Designing a website requires a fine balance of loads so that one load isn't over - "loading" the user.

I love #29, "minds wander 30 percent of the time!" It makes me feel so much better about daydreaming in elementary and high school. However, the author focus on this point was "mind wandering." Mind wandering is when someone is focused on a task, for example driving, but is able to use another part of the brain to process information, i.e. when should I stop for gas, make an appointment, etc. 

Mental vs. Conceptual Models: a mental model is what a person perceives in their mind about an object, a visual representation; whereas, a conceptual model is the actual object, device, or user interface presented to a person. A designer needs to be aware of both these models to understand how users respond and interact to a product. If a user has a strong mental model of an interface, for example, but is presented with a conceptual model that is "beyond the norm" than this would result in confusion and frustration to the user.

Step by step instructions are a great tool, but interspersing them with graphic examples are the best way to engage a user.

"People love to categorize," so true! The author points out that children don't really start to group things until they're seven years old but that humans have an inherent ability to categorize things. We look for certain patterns that we're familiar with to understand elements. If a structure isn't present than we organize them ourselves.

Now #37 was the most interesting to me: four ways to be creative:

• deliberate and cognitive: comes from sustained work in a discipline, uses the prefrontal cortex, makes connections among bits of information you've stored in other parts of your brain.
• deliberate and emotional: "aha" moments sparked by stressful or life-changing events. The deliberate part uses the prefrontal cortex, the emotional part uses the amygdala where feelings are stored and the cingulate cortex that deals with complex feelings. The cingulate cortex is connected to the prefrontal cortex.
• spontaneous and cognitive: kind of like "sleeping on it" or "percolating" as I like to call it. It's when you are so focused on something that you can't solve the problem. But taking a break from it consciously allows your subconscious to take over. It uses the basal ganglia of the brain where dopamine is stored. Its the part of the brain that operates outside of your conscious awareness but requires an existing body of knowledge.
• spontaneous and emotional: comes from the amygdala where basic emotions are processed. This is the type of creativity that musicians and artist possess. No specific knowledge base is required but great skill is needed.

More on dompamine:

Creativity is the human capital one often says, especially in times of economic crises. And yet, very little is known about how creativity works (Sternberg, Kaufman,& Pretz, 2002), which severely limits our possibilities to systematically develop that capital. To a substantial degree the lack of convergent theorizing on creativity has to do with disagreements on how to define it (by the processesunderlying creativity vs. the products it brings about) and how to measure it (see Brown, 1989; Runco, 2007). Moreover, there is increasing evidence that truly creative acts do not reflect the operation of just one process, brain area, or faculty but, rather, the interplay of multiple cognitive processes and neural networks (e.g., Dietrich, 2004; Eysenck, 1993; Heilman, 2005). This raises the question of how this interplay is orchestrated, and there are reasons to believe that the neurotransmitter dopamine (DA) plays an important role in that. [Source: Cognition] 

Goal gradient effect: examples include punch cards, "breadcrumbs" on websites. Giving the user an "illusion of progress" (Susan Weinschenk's blog). Also referred to as "flow state," it's when a person forgets everything else and is focused on the task at hand. To achieve this state requires: focused attention, achievable goal, constant feedback, control, safe environment, personal state of mind. I often enter a "flow" state when I'm coding websites. I lose all sense of time and can spend hours on a project and not even realize it. My safe environments are at home and at school. Every action I take in code gives me instant feedback when viewed on a web browser. The goal gradient effect is cross-cultural and uses the prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia.

Operant Condition: coined by behaviorist B.F. Skinner, referred to operant as "active behavior that operates upon the environment to generate consequences" (Skinner). It's the learned behaviors we acquire every day. Reward and punishment- type scenarios. Good behavior reaps rewards and bad behavior reaps consequences.