How to Avoid Designs that Split Attention

June 19, 2010
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We humans are at the mercy of a phenomenon called the split-attention effect. Many conventional information graphics, animations, visualizations and multimedia presentations demand that viewers simultaneously split their attention between divergent sources of information.

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Pick The Right Icon For The Job

May 23, 2010
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We quickly decode a well-designed icon, but how can we design or select the most effective one for a particular purpose? This article answers that question and questions you didn’t know you had.

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5 Myths Of Visual Communication

May 1, 2010
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Visual communication is a tricky endeavor, because it involves a language that is only partially understood as well as mysterious and complex brain processes. We have a lot of ideas about how visual communication works, but some are assumptions based on intuition, misinformation or lack of it. Here are a few.

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When Visuals Are Straightforward, We Understand Them

April 19, 2010
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Here is a perfect example of a visual communication by the New York Times that shows the superiority of images over words. Within seconds, a reader can grasp where the flight cancellations are occurring due to the ash cloud from Iceland. Rather than reading an article or searching through a list, we can get the […]

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Neuro Web Design—Designing for More Clicks

April 9, 2010
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A few months ago I exchanged books with someone who is also very interested in brain science. In fact, she calls herself  ‘the brain lady.’ Susan Weinschenk, Ph.D, recently wrote Neuro Web Design: What makes them click, which should be of interest to those involved in web strategy and design and really, to anyone interested […]

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Themes For A Good Infographic

March 26, 2010
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Information graphics give us new ways to understand and think about information. They include a huge category of visuals that are capable of communicating in diverse ways through charts, maps, diagrams, data visualizations and technical, instructional and scientific explanations. It seems that infographics become more valuable as our need to understand a complex world increases.

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