7. Avoiding distraction

Keep things short - a short, sharp, concise statement is better than a sprawling flowery sentence.

Methods of only showing limited information

  • Use menus that only show a few choices at any one time, if more needs to be offered then use an expanding / collapsing menu system
  • Reduce clutter. Allow users to switch off or hide un-required toolbars or side menus
  • Use tabs or windows to split up the information into manageable chunks.

Common mistakes that cause distraction

  • Using constant background sound tracks - it can be very distracting so allow users to switch it off if they want to.
  • Too much animation and flashing objects - use sparingly.
  • Jarring colour combinations.
  • Poor contrasting colour combinations makes it hard to read text
  • Too much scrolling needed : split up the interface into a number of screens rather than one humongous page
  • Inconsistent design. e.g. placement of navigation buttons, keep it consistent. It is a poor interface that has the 'Next' button on the top right on one page and on the bottom left of another page.


challenge see if you can find out one extra fact on this topic that we haven't already told you

Click on this link: HCI and attention span