CEN 3721 CORE REVIEWS ANSWERS AND
QUESTIONS SET A+
✔✔Implementation model - ✔✔the representation of how a machine or program
actually works
✔✔Mechanical-Age - ✔✔Normally try to use old representations in new
environments
*Sometimes mechanical-age representations
should not be translated verbatim into the digital
world
✔✔Beginners, Perpetual Intermediates & Experts (About Face textbook and
presentation slides)
o What each needs
o How to design for each - ✔✔
✔✔Gestalt theories/ 7 laws of organization and related design implications - ✔✔1.
proximity - objects tend to be grouped together according to their proximity
2. similarity - similar objects tend to be grouped together
3. continuity - our visual perception is biased to perceive continuous forms rather than
disconnected segments
4. closure - automatically try to close open figures so that they are perceived as whole
objects rather than separate pieces
5. symmetry - we tend to parse complex scenes in a way that reduces the complexity
6. figure/ground - our mind separates the visual field into the figure (the foreground) and
ground (the background)
7. common fate - objects that move together are perceived as grouped or related
✔✔Cognitive unconscious - ✔✔* information that you
know, but are not accessing at the current
moment (are not conscious of)
* some control in making unconscious thoughts
conscious
, ✔✔Locus of attention - ✔✔a feature or object in the physical world or an idea about
which you are intently and actively thinking
✔✔Absorption - ✔✔* Become absorbed in the task that has
your locus of attention
* Essential to productivity
* Interface must work, whatever the user's state of absorption
✔✔represented model - ✔✔the behavioral face that a software product
shows to the world
✔✔mental model - ✔✔cognitive shorthand for explaining a device or
program
✔✔Information Age - ✔✔//
✔✔Beginners Needs - ✔✔* Good software shortens the passage from beginners to
intermediates
* Beginners need some instruction, but not much
* Process has to be rapid and targeted
✔✔Perpetual Intermediate Needs - ✔✔Need access to tools
Want frequently used tools to be placed front and center in the interface
Tooltip: the perfect perpetual intermediates idiom
Don't need scope and purpose explained to them
Know how to use reference materials
Know that advanced features exist, even though they may not need them or know how
to use them
✔✔Experts Needs - ✔✔* Prospective buyers often trust an expert's
opinion
* Experts have a disproportionate influence on
less experienced users
* Demand
faster access
QUESTIONS SET A+
✔✔Implementation model - ✔✔the representation of how a machine or program
actually works
✔✔Mechanical-Age - ✔✔Normally try to use old representations in new
environments
*Sometimes mechanical-age representations
should not be translated verbatim into the digital
world
✔✔Beginners, Perpetual Intermediates & Experts (About Face textbook and
presentation slides)
o What each needs
o How to design for each - ✔✔
✔✔Gestalt theories/ 7 laws of organization and related design implications - ✔✔1.
proximity - objects tend to be grouped together according to their proximity
2. similarity - similar objects tend to be grouped together
3. continuity - our visual perception is biased to perceive continuous forms rather than
disconnected segments
4. closure - automatically try to close open figures so that they are perceived as whole
objects rather than separate pieces
5. symmetry - we tend to parse complex scenes in a way that reduces the complexity
6. figure/ground - our mind separates the visual field into the figure (the foreground) and
ground (the background)
7. common fate - objects that move together are perceived as grouped or related
✔✔Cognitive unconscious - ✔✔* information that you
know, but are not accessing at the current
moment (are not conscious of)
* some control in making unconscious thoughts
conscious
, ✔✔Locus of attention - ✔✔a feature or object in the physical world or an idea about
which you are intently and actively thinking
✔✔Absorption - ✔✔* Become absorbed in the task that has
your locus of attention
* Essential to productivity
* Interface must work, whatever the user's state of absorption
✔✔represented model - ✔✔the behavioral face that a software product
shows to the world
✔✔mental model - ✔✔cognitive shorthand for explaining a device or
program
✔✔Information Age - ✔✔//
✔✔Beginners Needs - ✔✔* Good software shortens the passage from beginners to
intermediates
* Beginners need some instruction, but not much
* Process has to be rapid and targeted
✔✔Perpetual Intermediate Needs - ✔✔Need access to tools
Want frequently used tools to be placed front and center in the interface
Tooltip: the perfect perpetual intermediates idiom
Don't need scope and purpose explained to them
Know how to use reference materials
Know that advanced features exist, even though they may not need them or know how
to use them
✔✔Experts Needs - ✔✔* Prospective buyers often trust an expert's
opinion
* Experts have a disproportionate influence on
less experienced users
* Demand
faster access
