Attention design: Eight issues to consider

In HCI research there is a body of work concerned with the development of systems capable of reasoning about users’ attention and how this might be most effectively guided for specific applications. We present eight issues relevant to this endeavour: What is attention? How can attention be measured? How do graphical displays interact with attention? How do knowledge, performance and attention interact? What is working memory? How does doing two things at a time affect attention? What is the effect of artificial feedback loops on attention? Do attentional processes differ across tasks? For each issue we present design implications for developing attention–aware systems, and present a general discussion focussing on the dynamic nature of attention, tasks (number, nature and variety), level of processing, nature of the display, and validity of measures. In conclusion, we emphasise the need to adopt a dynamic view of attention and suggest that attention is a more complex phenomenon than some designers may have realised; however, embracing the multi-faceted nature of attention provides a range of design opportunities yet to be explored.