Case Studies: Addressing Cognitive Problems in Interface Designs

September 2019 - December 2019

Claremont Graduate University (CGU)

As part of my graduate coursework, I was tasked with identifying an applied problem related to cognitive science, devising a solution to the problem that was supported by relevant research, and suggesting a means to quantitatively evaluate the efficacy of the proposed solution.

I focused two problems, related to email UI and iPhone alarm clock UI, respectively:

01

Email Interface

iPhone Alarm Clock

Problem: Because users are primarily focused on setting the numerical time of an alarm, they may set the alarm time and subsequently save the alarm without attending to the A.M./P.M. settings. In many instances, the user only realizes she has mistakenly set her alarm for the wrong time of day after her alarm fails to go off at the indended time.

Solution: The proposed interface change is grounded in spatial inattentional blindness and attention capture literature and should prevent mis-set alarms by drawing automatic visual attention to the A.M./P.M. settings.

Highlighted Features

Proposed Interface Design Revisions for ‘Create New Alarm’ View

(1) A.M/P.M. slider is converted to radio buttons. (2) Radio buttons are moved to a new line, directly below and centered with the time slider. (3) Border and text of radio button are colored. Note that neither radio button is selected by default.

Proposed Visual Feedback When a Time of Day (e.g. A.M./P.M.) Has Been Selected

The background of the selected radio button becomes orange, and the text becomes white.

Proposed Safeguard Feature to Prevent the User from Saving an Alarm Without Selecting a Time of Day

If the user attempts to save an alarm without selecting a time of day, a pop-up message will alert the user that the alarm cannot be saved until a selection is made. Upon pressing ‘Okay’, the user is redirected to the alarm she attempted to save prior.