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cognitive_load [2018/06/14 00:59] miket_forty7ronin.com Created and formated |
cognitive_load [2019/08/07 16:12] (current) lisa.illgen_concentrix.com |
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| ==== Cognitive Load ==== | ==== Cognitive Load ==== | ||
| **// Don’t overload short-term memory //**\\ | **// Don’t overload short-term memory //**\\ | ||
| - | If you've had any exposure to IVR design, you've probably heard references to Miller’s 1956 article on short-term memory that found that humans on average can hold seven chunks of information in working memory, plus or minus two chunks. And you've probably heard it applied to IVR menus. It doesn't apply. We're not asking people to remember all the options, just pick the right one. We go into this in great detail in the sections on [[menu design]]. | + | If you've had any exposure to IVR design, you've probably heard references to Miller’s [[references#miller1956|1956]] article on short-term memory that found that humans on average can hold seven chunks of information in working memory, plus or minus two chunks. And you've probably heard it applied to IVR menus. It doesn't apply. We're not asking people to remember all the options, just pick the right one. We go into this in great detail in the sections on [[menu design]]. |
| That said, if your application is presenting information the caller needs to remember, keep in mind the limitations of memory. An IVR interface is transitory, that is, once we've said something, it's gone. There is often no easy way for the caller to back up, so they are relying on memory. | That said, if your application is presenting information the caller needs to remember, keep in mind the limitations of memory. An IVR interface is transitory, that is, once we've said something, it's gone. There is often no easy way for the caller to back up, so they are relying on memory. | ||
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| ==== Put important things first, but last isn't bad either ==== | ==== Put important things first, but last isn't bad either ==== | ||
| - | Another short-term memory issue to factor into menu design is the [[primacy-recency effect]]. Studies have demonstrated that when participants are presented lists of words, they tend to remember the first few and last few words and forget words in the middle of the list. Therefore, the first option and the last in any menu are the ones most likely to stick with a caller. | + | Another short-term memory issue to factor into menu design is the [[https://www.simplypsychology.org/primacy-recency.html | primacy-recency effect]]. Studies have demonstrated that when participants are presented lists of words, they tend to remember the first few and last few words and forget words in the middle of the list. Therefore, the first option and the last in any menu are the ones most likely to stick with a caller. |
| ==== Be careful combining ideas in a single question ==== | ==== Be careful combining ideas in a single question ==== | ||