Visual momentum: a concept to improve the cognitive coupling of person and computer

Reviewer: Jack Noel Rose

The author proposes that the concept of “visual momentum,” based upon knowledge about human perception, be used as a heuristic. So used, this concept is said to contribute to improved display design, so that users will be better able to cognitively process successive displays, thus maximizing the amount of information they obtain from the display system. “Visual momentum” is defined as “a measure of the user's ability to extract and integrate information across displays. . .a measure of the distribution of attention.” Looking at a CRT is a subset of the psychological perceptual processes involved in looking at the world. Certain general propositions from the psychological literature are referenced: i.e., perception is an active, selective process; the form of problem representation influences problem solving performance; and “cognitive maps” can be constructed by users. The principle of “visual momentum” consolidates several human performance problems with visual displays, in order to better inspire solutions. Techniques that provide information about the location of one view with respect to another increase the “visual momentum” within a display system. These include providing an outline or menu, landmarks, overlapping displays, or maps. The strong feature of the paper is a carefully documented excursion into the relevant literature. The consolidation of ideas about computer display system use led to a worthwhile theoretical statement.