Speakers
Kirk St.Amant
Louisiana Tech University and University of LimerickStart
September 5, 2018 - 2:00 PM
End
September 5, 2018 - 3:00 PM
Cognition, Usability, and Design: The Psychology of Design and Use
This session was also offered at the 2018 Summit in Orlando, Florida!
No item is inherently useful. Rather, the usability of materials is dictated by the expectations and perceptions of the individuals who use them. These factors are not random; they are shaped by cognition – how the mind stores, retrieves, and processes information. By understanding these cognitive processes, technical communicators can create content, designs, and materials that better meet the usability expectations of an audience.
This webinar provides technical communicators with an introduction to cognitive processes affecting perceptions and expectations of usability. In reviewing these concepts, the speaker will:
- Discuss how to apply these ideas to identify a groups’ usability and design expectations.
- Explain how to use research results to design materials to meet user expectations.
The objective of this webinar is to review how cognitive science theory can be combined with technical communication practices to create a framework for doing user research to create more usable content.
This webinar will provide attendees with the foundational understanding needed to
- Recognize how certain cognitive factors affect expectations of usability.
- Use this understanding of cognitive factors to identify user expectations.
- Analyze existing designs to determine how well they meet user expectations.
- Apply data from cognitive-based research to create usable designs for different audiences.
Attendees can use this knowledge to guide user testing and design activities relating to different audiences.
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