by Hoang Huynh - An UX talk about the importance of Attention Internet is a beautiful Pandora’s box full of everything and today we design features for a wide range of scenarios and experiences: not only fancy funny stuffs, but also serious things and complex interactions, from managing your bank account to your everyday work. We are swiftly shifting behaviors, habits and traditional problems to the digital context where we have to face an unsolved challenge: keeping high the attention level on mission critical tasks.

1. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
Hoang C. Huynh
BOOBS, KITTENS
AND CELEBRITIES
An UX talk about the importance of the Attention
Internet is a beautiful Pandora’s box full of everything and today we
design features for a wide range of scenarios and experiences:
not only fancy funny stuffs, but also serious things and complex
interactions, from managing your bank account to your everyday work.
We are swiftly shifting behaviors, habits and traditional problems to the
digital context where we have to face an unsolved challenge: keeping
high the attention level on mission critical tasks.
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs

2. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
Hi, I’m Hoang!
I Am Learning German
I Am Easily Bored
I Love Technologies
I Design
Experiences
@aetheros

3. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
WE WILL TALK ABOUT
A LOT OF THINGS
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
DISCLAIMER

4. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
#SHIRTSTORM DISCLAIMER
WE WILL TALK ABOUT
A LOT OF THINGS not boobs
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs

5. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
WHAT ARE THE
FOUNDATIONS
OF THE INTERNET?
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs

6. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
1,127,038,036
Websites online right now
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
@Internetlivestats

7. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
@Internetlivestats

8. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs

9. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs

10. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs

11. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs

12. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
#BOOBS
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
@Aphex Twin - Windowlicker
#DESIRES

13. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
#BOOBS
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
@Some guy in the internet
#DESIRES

14. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
#KITTENS
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
#EMOTIONS

15. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
#CELEBS
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
@Paper
#ASPIRATIONS

16. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
UX is not UI
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs

17. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
NOT SO VISUAL EXPERIENCES
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
@Warner Bros - Lord of the Rings
WHAT KIND OF SORCERY IS THIS ?

18. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
THAT’S INTERESTING
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs

19. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
INFAMOUS F24
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs

20. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
INFAMOUS F24
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
WEIRD GESTALTIC LAYOUT

21. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
INFAMOUS F24
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
OBSCURE LINGO

22. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
DIGITAL EDITION
INFAMOUS F24
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs

23. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
DIGITAL INTERPRETATION
INFAMOUS F24
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs

24. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
DIGITAL RE-INTERPRETATION
INFAMOUS F24
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs

25. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
CENSUS
1Understand the Question
2Recall the Information
3Collect the Information
4Formulate an Answer
5Evaluate & Take Action

26. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
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CENSUS
…AGAIN

27. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
…AND AGAIN

28. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
ATTENTION ERRORS PERFORMANCE
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
@Madelta

29. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
I KNEW NOTHING
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
@HBO - Game of Thrones

30. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
Essentially,
all models are wrong,
but some are useful
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
George E. P. Box, Statistician
No scheme is particularly useful
Partly because humans are complex
Schemes do not capture that complexity
Often the full facts are not available

31. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs

32. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
‣ Humans don’t process all incoming sensory signals
‣ Information processing starts very early by seeking out, focusing, and
selecting aspects of the available information
‣ Attention is the mechanism by which we restrict processing to only a
small fraction of the possible amount of information
‣ It includes both conscious processes and unconscious processes
‣ Cognitive processes (such as object identification) are the end result
of unconscious processing (visual grouping processes)
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
ATTENTION

33. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
CAN I HAVE YOUR
ATTENTION ? Usually we tend to say that we can keep the
attention high for more or less 15 minutes.
That’s not true.

34. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
WHAT ABOUT
THE BRAIN ?
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
@Scrubs
WELL, I’M NOT A DOCTOR

35. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
The FRONTAL ATTENTIONAL system
‣ Attentional control in the frontal lobes
regulates which events to attend to
and which events to ignore
‣ Executive control, planning. and
awareness
The PARIETAL ATTENTIONAL system
‣ Controls visual-spatial attention
‣ Modulates perceptual processing
Multiple MODALITY-SPECIFIC systems
Selective modulation of processing in auditory cortex, visual
cortex, etc.
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs

36. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
In cognitive psychology, cognitive load refers to the total amount of mental effort
being used in the working memory. Cognitive load theory was developed out of
the study of problem solving by John Sweller in the late 1980s. Sweller argued that
instructional design can be used to reduce cognitive load in learners.
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
@Mimi and Eunice
COGNITIVE LOAD

37. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
@Kelly Morgan

38. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
@Kelly Morgan

39. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
@UXMag

40. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
COMPLEXITY
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
IN ORDER TO KEEP
ATTENTION HIGH

41. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
Vigilance
‣ Waiting your turn in line at the doctor
Selective attention
‣ Listening to the speaker announce at the train station
Divided attention
‣ Watching a TV serial while buying online
Search
‣ Searching for someone in the crowd
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
ATTENTION

42. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
@Universal Pictures - The Bourne Identity
VIGILANCE refers to the ability to attend to a
situation for an extended period of time
The goal usually is the detection of
“something”, usually a “signal”

43. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
SELECTIVE ATTENTION
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
@The Awareness Test / The Gorilla Experiment

44. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
@FOX - The Simpson
People can perform more than one
task at a time (multi-tasking)
DIVIDED ATTENTION

45. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONAL
FILTER MODEL RESOURCE LIMITED MODEL
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
2 STAGES
NEISSER MODEL
@DSYNEGRAFIX @MiPersonalEnCasa

46. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
STRUCTURAL
FILTER MODEL
how far unattended
informations are
processed
‣ BOTTLENECKS
‣ EARLY VS LATE
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
@DSYNEGRAFIX

47. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
SENSORY
PERCEPTION
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
ACTION
SHORT TERM
MEMORY
INFO
PROCESSING
SENSORY
BUFFER
What we “decide” to perceive is based partially on:
‣ The strength of the perceptual event (signal)
‣ The amount of background events (noise)
‣ A subjective threshold of the relative strength of signal to noise
‣ The benefits of detecting a signal vs. the costs of not detecting it
‣ Expectancies
‣ Selective attention

48. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
SENSORY
PERCEPTION
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
ACTION
SHORT TERM
MEMORY
INFO
PROCESSING
SENSORY
BUFFER
BROADBENT
1958
1958
“I am the father of the
dichotic listening”
Donald Broadbent, psychologist

49. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
SENSORY
PERCEPTION
Information is blocked early for unattended channel
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
ACTION
SHORT TERM
MEMORY
INFO
PROCESSING
SENSORY
BUFFER
BROADBENT
1958
‣ Information is filtered at an early,
sensory level
‣ On l y 1 c han n e l of s e n s or y
information proceeds through this
filter (bottleneck) and is interpreted
‣ Other stimuli with salient sensory
characteristics can also pass
through this filter

50. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
SENSORY
PERCEPTION
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
ACTION
SHORT TERM
MEMORY
INFO
PROCESSING
SHORT TERM
MEMORY
INFO
PROCESSING
SENSORY
BUFFER
INPUT A
BROADBENT
1958
INPUT B
SENSORY
BUFFER
SELECTION
FILTER EARLY SELECTION MODEL

51. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
SENSORY
PERCEPTION
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
ACTION
SHORT TERM
MEMORY
INFO
PROCESSING
SENSORY
BUFFER
TREISMAN
1963
BROADBENT
1958
“The supporter of the dichotic
listening was (probably) wrong”
1963
Anna Treisman, psychologist

52. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
SENSORY
PERCEPTION
Information is attenuated differentially for channels
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
ACTION
SHORT TERM
MEMORY
INFO
PROCESSING
SENSORY
BUFFER
TREISMAN
1963
BROADBENT
1958
‣ A filter determines how much information from
each channel is being processed
‣ Perceptual processing is limited in capacity
‣ This model allows for highly relevant information
to be interpreted, even if the channel is not
attended

53. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
THE COCKTAIL EFFECT
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
@GoPixPic
PARTY

54. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
KNEEL BEFORE ZOD
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@Man of Steel

55. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
@Man of Steel
IT TOOK ME A LIFE TO
MASTER IT

56. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
@Man of Steel
IT TOOK ME A LIFE TO
MASTER IT

57. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
SENSORY
PERCEPTION
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
ACTION
SHORT TERM
MEMORY
SENSORY
BUFFER
SHORT TERM
MEMORY
INFO
PROCESSING
SENSORY
BUFFER
INPUT A
TREISMAN
1963
INPUT B
INFO
PROCESSING
ATTENUATOR
FILTER
BROADBENT
1958
ATTENUATION MODEL

58. - Hoang C. Huynh
BROADBENT
1958
MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
SENSORY
PERCEPTION
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
ACTION
SHORT TERM
MEMORY
INFO
PROCESSING
SENSORY
BUFFER
TREISMAN
1963
DEUTSCH DEUSTCH
1964
1964
“Meaning Means”
J.Anthony and Diana Deutsch, psychologists

59. - Hoang C. Huynh
BROADBENT
1958
MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
SENSORY
PERCEPTION
Information from all channels is perceptually processed
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
ACTION
SHORT TERM
MEMORY
INFO
PROCESSING
SENSORY
BUFFER
TREISMAN
1963
DEUTSCH DEUSTCH
1964
‣ Selection occurs late, after perceptual processing has
interpreted the stimulus
‣ Processing bottleneck occurs when items have to be
placed in short-term memory

60. - Hoang C. Huynh
BROADBENT
1958
MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
SENSORY
PERCEPTION
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
ACTION
DEUTSCH DEUSTCH
SHORT TERM
MEMORY
SENSORY
BUFFER
SHORT TERM
MEMORY
INFO
PROCESSING
SENSORY
BUFFER
INPUT A
TREISMAN
1963
INPUT B
INFO
1964
PROCESSING
WEIGHT / MEANING
FILTER
LATE SELECTION MODEL

61. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
AND THEN WE ARE GOING
ALL DOWN THE WAY
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs

62. - Hoang C. Huynh
BROADBENT
1958
MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
SENSORY
PERCEPTION
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
ACTION
SHORT TERM
MEMORY
SENSORY
BUFFER
SHORT TERM
MEMORY
INFO
PROCESSING
SENSORY
BUFFER
INPUT A
TREISMAN
1963
INPUT B
INFO
PROCESSING
SELECTOR
DEUTSCH DEUSTCH
1964
SMITH
1967

63. - Hoang C. Huynh
BROADBENT
1958
MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
SENSORY
PERCEPTION
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
ACTION
SHORT TERM
MEMORY
SENSORY
BUFFER
SHORT TERM
MEMORY
INFO
PROCESSING
SENSORY
BUFFER
INPUT A
TREISMAN
1963
INPUT B
INFO
PROCESSING
ACTUATOR
DEUTSCH DEUSTCH
1964
SMITH
1967
KEELE
1973

64. - Hoang C. Huynh
BROADBENT
1958
MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
SENSORY
PERCEPTION
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
ACTION
SHORT TERM
MEMORY
INFO
PROCESSING
SENSORY
BUFFER
TREISMAN
1963
DEUTSCH DEUSTCH
1964
SMITH
1967
KEELE
1973
“IT DEPENDS”
1997
David Meyers and David Kieras, psychologists

65. - Hoang C. Huynh
BROADBENT
1958
MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
SENSORY
PERCEPTION
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
ACTION
SHORT TERM
MEMORY
INFO
PROCESSING
SENSORY
BUFFER
TREISMAN
1963
DEUTSCH DEUSTCH
1964
SMITH
1967
KEELE
1973
“IT DEPENDS”
1.They are all valid bottlenecks
2.It depends, any filter could
be active one at a time
3.We are all wrong

66. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
@NIEMANLAB
2 STAGES
NEISSER MODEL

67. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
1
Preattentive processing
“TWO STAGES” ‣ Automatic, fast, parallel
‣ Mainly analysis of physical characteristics
‣ Limited semantic processing
‣ No deep semantic processing / analysis
‣ Some initially attentive processing can get
2
automatized through extensive practice
Attentive processing
‣ Controlled, slow, serial
‣ Requires attentional resources
‣ Enables semantic processing and synthesis
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs

68. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
THE BUG EFFECT
Neisser’s pre-attentive and
attentive processing
Pre-attentive processing
i s the unconscious
a c c u m u l a t i o n o f
information from the
environment.
All available information
i s p r e - a t t e n t i v e l y
processed. Then, the
b r a i n f i l t e r s a n d
p r o c e s s e s w h a t i s
important.
@Dreamworks - Monsters vs Aliens

69. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
THE STROOP EFFECT
dog
chair
boat
window
block
fan
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red
yellow
green
blue
red
blue
red
yellow
green
blue
red
blue
1 2 3

70. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
FUNCTIONAL
RESOURCE LIMITED MODEL
how many / big are the
resource pools available
‣ CAPACITY BINS
@MiPersonalEnCasa

71. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
ENERGON
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
@Hasbro - Transformers G1

72. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
@Mike Borell - Human Factors

73. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
OUR COGNITIVE SYSTEM HAS LIMITED RESOURCES
‣ One general resource
‣ Multiple specific resources
ATTENTIONAL PROCESSES REQUIRE RESOURCES
‣ Each process uses up part of the resources
‣ Processes compete for resources
‣ Automatization reduces the amount of resources needed
to perform the task
DIVIDED ATTENTION
‣ Multiple attention demanding processes can be active at
the same time as long as they don’t require all of the
resources
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs

74. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
P
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
R
D
=
esources
emands
Performance

75. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
P
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
P
P
=
izza
eople
Party

76. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
H
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
T
T
=
eam Members
hings to Do
Happyness

77. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
TAKEAWAYS
SERIOUSLY?
JUST TAKE
EVERYTHING
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
@Giphy

78. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
DESIRES EMOTIONS AND
ASPIRATIONS ARE GREAT
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
@Brangelina

79. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
TO COME IN
LIKE A
WRECKING
BALL
@VEVO - Miley Cirus

80. MILAN 28-29 NOV 2014
- Hoang C. Huynh
THANK YOU
Twitter: @aetheros
Linkedin: in/hchuynh
Web: huynh.cc/blog
Slides will be available also
on slideshare/aetheros
Boobs, Kittens and Celebs
- @Aetheros & Luna