Distraction as a Design Problem
Saturday, November 7th, 2009Exerting mental effort to pay attention means bad design!
Distraction and multi-tasking are getting more attention as design problems. Distracted students, drivers, parents and workers appear to be less productive and even unsafe. More broadly, we think and live in the future or the past and fail to be mindful of the present. We have been driven to such a high level of distraction in our daily life that some researchers and authors see a “coming dark age” and are calling for a national movement to regain our focus. I am alluding to Maggie Jackson’s book on Distraction:The erosion of attention and the coming dark age. A great read for cognitive designers dealing with distraction and multi-tasking.
From a cognitive design standpoint, distraction and attention come down to how well we manage a user’s mental energy.
