BEEN THERE,
DONE THAT
 Let's shift up to the
cognitive level of engagement, and move from the
limbic system into less "hardwired"
parts of the brain. Cognitive engagement comes in several
flavors. The first is the cognitive component of
our reflex response to novelty. Something
different in our environment will capture our attention,
but that stimulus demands analysis once attended to. In other
words, after the primitive response of "Where
is it?" comes "What
is it?"
Here’s
how this might come into play in your
social life:
Let’s say you are at a party and
some slight stimulus -- looks, vocal
quality, scent, whatever -- attracts you
to another person. You may find yourself
looking for clues to gender and/or sexual
orientation. If you are reasonably
pragmatic, you are likely to look for a
wedding or engagement ring. Whatever the
case, once your attention has been
captured, you will look for additional
information before taking action.
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This compulsion to evaluate new
stimulus at a glance can be a problem for
application designers. One of the first responses
a user has to a new software application is, "Can
I get this to do what I want it to do?" Is there a clear
indication of how to proceed? Perhaps there are
interface elements that the user is familiar
with. Perhaps there are so many widgets on the
screen that the user is intimidated. Novelty is
useful when exploiting curiosity, but the design
goal here is rapid identification. Pattern
recognition should
be facilitated and arousal reduced. For this
reason interface standards tend to be preferred
by users over interface techniques that change
from application to application.
Witness the devoted following that many operating
systems have enjoyed. The downside to this, of
course, is a stifling of innovation. [For
instance, I am typing this on a QWERTY keyboard,
despite the demonstrated superiority of other
keyboard layouts.]
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