8. People Can Miss Changes In Their Visual Fields

Inattention or Change Blindness

• When the observer is focusing attention on one thing and changes occurs simultaneously with a visual disruption, the observer can fail to notice large changes to objects or scenes. The idea is that people often miss large changes in their visual fields.

Monkey Business Illusion

• The Monkey Business Illusion (Embed)
• This shows that people might have seen “it” but that doesn't mean they actually paid attention to “it” or consciously interpret it.

Visual Intent

• Don’t assume that people will see something on a computer screen just because it’s there. This is especially true when you refresh a screen and make one change on it. Users may not even realize they are even looking at a different screen.
• If you want to be sure that people notice a change in their visual fields, add additional visual cues (such as blinking) or auditory cues (such as a beep).