Tutorial: 9. Cognitive Factors in Design: Basic Phenomena in Human Memory and Problem Solving

Sunday 09:00 - 17:30.

Thomas T. Hewett, Drexel University, USA

Benefits
Learn the theoretical underpinnings and practical aspects of how people remember and how they solve problems. Gain ideas about how to use that knowledge during product design and how to take advantage of some of the capabilities of your most important interface component: the human mind.

Origins
This "CHI Classic" was a top-rated tutorial at CHI 95, CHI 96, CHI 97, and CHI 98.

Features

• understand intuitively a variety of phenomena through direct, "minds-on" exposure
• learn to avoid some common errors
• develop a basis for making educated design choices when guidelines fail
• relate cognitive phenomena to human-computer interaction
• gain the resources needed for self-directed study in cognitive psychology
• obtain a useful set of teaching materials for cognitive aspects of human-computer interaction

Audience
Interaction designers and developers, and anyone interested in human-computer interaction and interactive system design who has not done course work in cognitive psychology. Not intended for the human factors specialist or the individual with extensive training in psychology or for the person seeking a state-of-the-art literature of the latest research in cognitive psychology.

Presentation
Interactive presentation and "minds-on" demonstrations.

Instructor
Tom Hewett is Professor of Psychology at Drexel University where he teaches courses on Cognitive Psychology, Psychology of Human-Computer Interaction, and Problem Solving and Creativity. He has offered variants of this tutorial to hundreds of interface designers at both conferences and in-house training sessions.

Related Tutorials

• 1. Human-Computer Interaction: Introduction and Overview (Saturday evening)
• 19. Programmable User Modeling Analysis in Theory and in Practice (Monday)
• 25. The Usability Engineering Lifecycle (Monday)