Posted May 11, 2013
Design Research Society
I am in Oslo, Norway from May 14-17, 2013 for the 2nd International Conference for Design Education Researchers. I will be presenting two papers:
The Four-Second Window: How the Time Constraint of Working Memory and Other Psychological Principles Determine the Success of a Graphic Design
Abstract: This article discusses universal psychological principles derived from cognitive psychology that are useful in creating an effective graphic design. The most important are: the strict constraints of working memory which persists about four seconds, the viewers’ co-construction of perception and meaning based upon their prior relevant background knowledge including their knowledge of culturally constituted design conventions, especially those of genre. If the designer consciously exploits these cognitively and culturally constituted principles the result will be an effective graphic within a specific geographic and temporal context. Better designs are likely to result from familiarity with these principles.
Keywords: working memory, co-construction of meaning, genre, context, inference, design conventions, background knowledge, graphic design, information design, data visualization.
Rotational Geometry as a Teaching Tool: Applying the Work of Giorgio Scarpa.
Abstract: This article discusses universal psychological principles derived from cognitive psychology that are useful in creating an effective graphic design. The most important are: the strict constraints of working memory which persists about four seconds, the viewers’ co-construction of perception and meaning based upon their prior relevant background knowledge including their knowledge of culturally constituted design conventions, especially those of genre. If the designer consciously exploits these cognitively and culturally constituted principles the result will be an effective graphic within a specific geographic and temporal context. Better designs are likely to result from familiarity with these principles.
Keywords: working memory, co-construction of meaning, genre, context, inference, design conventions, background knowledge, graphic design, information design, data visualization.
You can download the papers, the slides or the handouts at the link below:
Conference presentations: slides and handouts.
bit.ly/10DMynZ