Designing with the mind in mind : simple guide to understanding user interface design rules / Jeff Johnson.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 179-182) and index.

We perceive what we expect -- Our vision is optimized to see structure -- We seek and use visual structure -- Reading is unnatural -- Our color vision is limited -- Our peripheral vision is poor -- Our attention is limited; our memory is imperfect -- Limits on attention, shape, thought and action -- Recognition is easy; recall is hard -- Learning from experience and performing learned actions are easy; problem solving and calculation are hard -- Many factors affect learning -- We have time requirements.

Early user interface (UI) practitioners were trained in cognitive psychology, from which UI design rules were based. But as the field evolves, designers enter the field from many disciplines. Practitioners today have enough experience in UI design that they have been exposed to design rules, but it is essential that they understand the psychology behind the rules in order to effectively apply them. In Designing with the Mind in Mind, Jeff Johnson, author of the best selling GUI Bloopers, provides designers with just enough background in perceptual and cognitive psychology that UI design guidelines make intuitive sense rather than being just a list of rules to follow.