Cognitive is gaining knowledge, information, or understanding through thoughts, experiences, and senses. Cognitive processes include attention, perception, and memory. Making a user interface (UI) that considers cognitive aspects will be beneficial. Because the UI will provide knowledge about what the users can or cannot do.

Attention

Firstly, attention means choosing to concentrate on a point out of many outside stimuli. Attention will allow the user to focus on information that is relevant to what is being done.

One way to build attention is to make information accessible for users to notice. For instance, by coloring, sorting, pausing, or animation techniques. Danone website uses coloring techniques to make a difference. Seen in this news headline using a different color compared to other headlines.

Perception

Perception talks about how information is received from the world and transformed into experience.

In the website, perception can build a perception in two ways. First, by setting the text to make it easy to read. Second, by setting the icon, so it is easy to understand and read. Navigation on the Danone website consists of text and icons. Where the icons used are social media icons and search symbols and countries.

Memory

Lastly, memory involves encoding and capturing knowledge and ultimately acting accordingly. The way to help users in the cognitive aspect is by not burdening users with complicated procedures to perform a task. One application is to design an interface that uses recognition rather than recall. Recognition means providing the users with several ways to encode information. It also helps the users to remember something, for example, by giving category, color, sign, and time information.

These three cognitive aspects are critical for making it easier for users to use the website.

Written by: Vania Jessica