Re: Distractions - always negative?

Good point about the form filling and leaving validation to the end - I had
not considered validation messages, those too are a distraction and when
left to the end of a process may result in having to repeat, fix errors,
repeat, fix errors in a loop of increasing frustration.

Front loading the validation messages is a great idea IMO. Thanks you
Jamie.

T

On 1 May 2015 at 15:39, Jamie Knight <Jamie.Knight@bbc.co.uk> wrote:

> Hello Everyone,
>
> Good question. I can't answer immediate because I didn't really know what
> the word distraction means.
>
> I had a look in the dictionary and it have two definitions:
>
> 1: a thing that prevents someone from concentrating on something else.
>
> 2: extreme agitation of the mind.
>
> With that in mind here are my first thoughts:
>
> 1: distractions are always bad. I don't want my mind agitated.
> Distractions are about stealing focus. They _prevent_ a user from focusing
> on something and completing a task etc.
>
> 2: There are a great many messages which need to be communicated to users.
> Sometimes they may be communicated in a way which distracts the user.
>
> 3: limiting distractions is about making recommendation for how to
> effectively communicate messages in non distracting non blocking ways
>
> 4: the messages mentioned in the other emails are either TIMELY (eg like
> the delete button) or there for COMPLIANCE (cookie notice)
>
> 5: Therefore perhaps we need to discuss methods of communicating important
> or timely messages without distracting the user.
>
> For example (based on what works for me)
>
> - rather than leave form verification to the end of a big form. Break it
> down into smaller chunks (many smaller forms) and do the validation inline.
> Eg I know each form Inout is valid before i move on to the next element.
> Create forms which only display a submit button when the form is valid and
> are effective in communicating invalid data rather than a model block or
> warning step at the end.
>
> - create a cookie warning which on the second page defaults to acceptance
> (this removing the distraction side effect quickly). This is how the BBC
> cookie warning works.
>
> So in summery. I think distractions are bad, they are the side effect of
> ineffective messaging between the page the user.
>
> It's a bit like using bold. If you use bold a small amount it is effective.
>
> If you use bold all the time it becomes useless.
>
> Effectively many pages turn into a an attention seeking shouting match as
> every page element tries to be important.
>
> Does that make any sense at all? Just my opinion *blush*
>
> Hope that helps,
>
> Jamie + Lion
> ________________________________________
> From: Anthony Doran [t.doran@texthelp.com]
> Sent: 01 May 2015 14:36
> To: EA Draffan
> Cc: Neil Milliken; public-cognitive-a11y-tf@w3.org
> Subject: Re: Distractions - always negative?
>
> Hi All,
>
> I've been kicking this around some more...I think there's more here - a
> broader question. How should a user's attention be drawn to something
> effectively? There are two sides to distraction - what you should *not* do,
> and what you *should* do in it's place. It is often a requirement/need to
> draw attention. This is not always commercially driven. Cookie
> notifications, legal requirements, location restrictions, copyright notices
> etc. We cannot be abstinence only here, it's just not realistic IMO.
>
>  With emphasis in text we know that the most effective way is to bold the
> text as italics, underline and all caps all have issues. Bold does too, but
> less so.
>
>  Which brings back the question - how does someone effectively draw
> attention, with minimal impact on those with Cognitive challenges? At the
> end of it all we need to give developers recommendations they can follow.
>
>   I am thinking along the lines of front loading - all necessary messages
> at the start of a process. "You are about to start filling in a form XY for
> ZY, would you like live help, or extra time or XXXXXXX" rather than an
> overlay after 5 minutes. Might be a good starting point for discussion.
>
> T
>
>
>
> On 1 May 2015 at 09:47, Anthony Doran <t.doran@texthelp.com<mailto:
> t.doran@texthelp.com>> wrote:
> Ok - this is interesting stuff ;)
>
> How should a positive distraction work? - say if you do have a help pop
> up, or you do have a paywall or something else that *must* be there. What
> is the best possible user experience? Should we prefer one method over
> another, or ????
>
> There is ordering - distraction in the middle of something is worse than a
> notification as a part of starting something - say a form or similar. There
> is the form of the distraction - and how easy it is to close/banish
> forever/pay or whatever, for starters.
>
> Thanks, T
>
> On 1 May 2015 at 09:12, EA Draffan <ead@ecs.soton.ac.uk<mailto:
> ead@ecs.soton.ac.uk>> wrote:
> Absolutely especially if you are about to select something that might
> delete all your work if you are not alerted to that fact by something that
> makes you pause!
>
> Best wishes
> E.A.
>
> Mrs E.A. Draffan
> WAIS, ECS , University of Southampton
> Mobile +44 (0)7976 289103<tel:%2B44%20%280%297976%20289103>
> http://access.ecs.soton.ac.uk<http://access.ecs.soton.ac.uk/>
> UK AAATE rep http://www.aaate.net/
> http://www.emptech.info<http://www.emptech.info/>
>
> From: Neil Milliken [mailto:Neil.Milliken@bbc.co.uk<mailto:
> Neil.Milliken@bbc.co.uk>]
> Sent: 30 April 2015 14:50
> To: Anthony Doran; public-cognitive-a11y-tf@w3.org<mailto:
> public-cognitive-a11y-tf@w3.org>
> Subject: RE: Distractions - always negative?
>
> Hi Tony,
>
> You raise a very valid point.
>
> Neil
> ________________________________
> From: Anthony Doran [t.doran@texthelp.com<mailto:t.doran@texthelp.com>]
> Sent: 30 April 2015 14:41
> To: public-cognitive-a11y-tf@w3.org<mailto:public-cognitive-a11y-tf@w3.org
> >
> Subject: Distractions - always negative?
> Hi All,
>
>    Just wanted to kick about an idea - is distraction always negative? For
> example if a site features some additional AT, say TTS or symbol support,
> they may wish to have an animation or something to draw your attention to
> it - or if they have active help they may have a help pop-over.
>
>    These things are distracting, and take focus from content consumption
> but do so for a positive reason.
>
>    So is distraction always a negative thing?
>
> --
> Anthony Doran
> Product Manager
>
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> Product Manager
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> T: +44(0)28 9442 8105
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Texthelp Ltd is a limited company registered in Belfast, N. Ireland with 
registration number NI31186 having its registered office and principal 
place of business at Lucas Exchange, 1 Orchard Way, Antrim, N. Ireland, 
BT41 2RU.