Overview: |
Like computers, the human brain has limited amount of processing power(cognitive load). When the amount of information coming in exceeds the ability to handle it, fatigue happens, performance declines. We may miss important details or even abandon the task completely, which is not what we want to see happen. This is especially relevant in a work from home environment. Because back in the office, there were short walks in and out of a meeting room, the water-cooler conversations, and lunches with coworkers. Each acts like a mini reboot for our brain, which allows us to go back to work relatively refreshed. Now, most of us sit in one spot and stare at the screen all day. But we often find ourselves more easily exhausted and less productive. In situations like this, every bit of brain power counts. And we as tool developers want to be aware of the state our users might be in, and be mindful about how much brain power we are asking for in our tools. This talk uses 3 animation tools as examples to demonstrate how to start thinking about the level of cognitive load our tools are asking for, and ways to reduce it.
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