Information Processing in UX Design

Over the years, I've seen a ton of user research requests where a key question was whether or not people were finding the right information. Standard usability testing gets at this, but there are many times where stakeholders want more sophisticated measurement. A framework from psychology, signal detection theory (SDT), offers a way to understand errors in judgments about information in a design. This article explains SDT’s principles and shows how you can use them to refine your research and improve the decisions users make about information in your products. https://buff.ly/4fyIwpD #UX #UXResearch #UserResearch #UserExperience

One of the most common skill gaps I see in design education—and the new designers coming out of it—today is 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 (𝗜𝗔). As UX increasingly gets flattened into “UI + screenflows,” we’re losing the structural thinking that helps users not just move through an experience—but understand it. IA isn’t just navigation. It’s not just naming menu items or organizing a sitemap. That’s just the surface. IA is defining what things are, how they’re related, and what can be done with them (the primary connection point to Interaction Design). It’s the underlying structure that shapes how people find, interpret, and interact with information—whether that’s content, features, or data. If you come from an object-oriented programming background, it’s similar to defining classes, relationships, and behaviors—except applied to human understanding. Good IA answers questions like: • What are the core concepts in this product? • How are they grouped or connected? • What actions can a user take with them, and in what context? • How do those things change over time? When IA is missing or weak, users feel lost, overwhelmed, or constrained, particularly as a system becomes larger and/or more complex. When it’s strong, they feel grounded. They know where they are, what they’re looking at, and what’s possible. IA gives users cognitive scaffolding. One of the best resources I know of for thinking this way is OOUX (Object-Oriented UX), which offers a strong approach to evaluating complexity and clarifying structures and relationships. It’s not the only approach, but it’s one of the few I've seen that go beyond “IA is navigation.” (If you know other good ones, please share!) As design leaders, I hope to see us bring this skill back into focus and coach teams and design students to look beyond screens and sitemaps.

𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐰𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐔𝐈/𝐔𝐗 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧:𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐔𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 Mastering UI/UX design requires more than just creativity; it involves understanding the principles that guide user behavior. Here are four fundamental laws that every designer should know: 1. 𝐇𝐢𝐜𝐤’𝐬 𝐋𝐚𝐰: Hick’s Law states that the time it takes for a user to make a decision increases with the number and complexity of choices available. The more options you present, the longer it will take for the user to decide. 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐓𝐢𝐩: Simplify navigation and reduce the number of choices to enhance decision-making and create a more intuitive user experience. 2. 𝐅𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐬’𝐬 𝐋𝐚𝐰: Fitts’s Law predicts that the time required to move to a target (like a button) is a function of the target’s size and distance. Larger, closer targets are easier to click or tap on. 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐓𝐢𝐩: Make interactive elements like buttons larger and position them strategically to reduce movement time, enhancing usability, especially on mobile devices. 3. 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐋𝐚𝐰: According to Miller’s Law, the average person can hold about 7 (plus or minus 2) items in their working memory. This principle highlights the importance of not overwhelming users with too much information at once. 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐓𝐢𝐩: Break down content into manageable chunks, use clear headings, and group related information together to make your design more digestible. 4. 𝐏𝐞𝐚𝐤-𝐄𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞: The Peak-End Rule suggests that people judge an experience based on how they felt at its peak (the most intense point) and at its end, rather than the overall average. 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐓𝐢𝐩: Focus on creating memorable highlights within your user journey and ensure the experience ends on a positive note, such as a successful completion message or a delightful animation. 𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳, 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘹 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯