28. Some Types of Mental Processing Are More Challenging Than Others

Some Types of Mental Processing ...

Are More Challenging Than Others.   There are 3 different kinds of demands or LOADs that you form mental processing: Cognitive (memory) Visual Motor 

All Loads Are Not Equal

Learning Science 101: Cognitive Load Theory (Enclavar)

Each load takes up a different amount of mental resources Visual loads (looking a screen) takes more than Motor (pressing a button) Cognitive loads (remembering a date) takes more than visual (looking at a person) The order of Loads using the most resources Cognitive Visual Motor

Minimize Motor Switching

Don't allow people to switch back and forth between motor loads Using a mouse only  -> Using a Keyboard to navigate Motor Switching can cause people to lose focus or become frustrated For accessiblity design, minimizing motor switching can be useful to those using accessible devices

Sometime You May Increase Loads

As designers, you want to decrease the amount of loads the user comes across. But increasing loads can be beneficial: To grab the user's attention using media When you intentionally want to focus the user's attention elsewhere To provide a challenge