Visual momentum redux

Over 25 years ago Woods (1984) introduced the concept of visual momentum: the extent to which an interface supports a practitioner in transitioning between various information-seeking activities that are required for understanding and exploring work domains. Increasing visual momentum requires the consideration of a range of “cognitive couplings” that span all levels of the interface: between multiple screens, within individual screens, and within a display on a screen. Although the concept has been well received, we believe that its potential to improve the quality of human computer interaction may be under-appreciated. Our purpose in this review is to provide a better understanding of visual momentum: to provide concrete and diverse examples of its successful application, to review empirical findings, to refine and expand the original design techniques that were proposed, and to integrate diverse terms that appear across different research communities.

► Visual momentum: the quality of transitions between computerized work activities.
► Smooth transitions require effective “cognitive couplings” between human and computer.
► A variety of design techniques to increase visual momentum are described.
► Concrete examples drawn from a variety of work domains are presented.
► A broad theoretical perspective is provided; interdisciplinary literatures are consolidated.