Exploring the Use of Cognitive Psychology Theory in Designing Effective GUI

The human-computer interaction (HCI) field is rapidly expanding. The main focus on HCI study is in the region of intersection between psychology and the social sciences, on the one hand, and computer science and technology, on the other. In this paper, we will discuss the usage of cognitive psychology research in designing an effective graphical user interface (GUI). The study focuses on three main aspects of cognitive psychology which are the human memory limitation, perception, and attention. Based on these aspects, some related and well defined principles had been explored. Experiments had been carried out in order to find out whether the current GUI design follows those well defined principles in fulfilling the requirements of the aspects. Survey had also been conducted to find out the user preferences in GUI. Preliminary evaluation suggests that the cognitive psychology theories presented in this study were considers as an important aspect when designing an effective GUI.