[Sigia-l] IA myths: conceptual model of navigation - was: mix ing applesand oranges and tomatoes

[Whitney Quesenbery]

At 11:10 AM 4/12/2002 -0500, Mike.Steckel at SEMATECH.Org wrote:
>I might say that your "muscle memory"
>is based on certain expectations you have developed semi-consciously while 
>using
>a certain site.


Muscle memory (this is a term that I learned from dancers, but anyone have 
a better history of the term) is not based on expectations, but on 
repetitions.

Dancers practice steps over and over again so that their muscles can take 
over during performance, letting them concentrate on expression and sequence.

One of the oddest forms of rehearsal was a mental run-though. The dancer 
would sit in a quiet place and work through the entire dance in their head, 
accompanied by minimal movements - just triggering the key muscle groups, 
but not completing the gesture.

I used to work on an AutoCad system that used a tablet with absolute, not 
relative positions. After a few months, I could move the puck to frequently 
used commands without even looking at it.

On a slightly related topic....

One of the invited speakers at UPA is Professor Paul Grobstein. He's a 
neurobiologist at Bryn Mawr College who has been doing research into the 
physical basis for cognition. That is: how do our physical selves relate to 
our cognitive selves. He is co-founder of Serendip
(http://serendip.brynmawr.edu), a website "for people who suspect that 
life's instructions are always ambiguous and incomplete ... and hence need 
to be continually examined and rewritten." When I first met him, I was 
fascinated that someone working on physical brain function could have 
touched so many of the issues that are central to some of my design work.



Whitney Quesenbery
whitneyq at acm.org

STC 2002 -  May 5-9, Nashville - www.stc.org/2002_conference.html
UPA 2002 - July 8-12, Orlando - www.upassoc.org/new/conferences/2002/index.html

STC Usability SIG - www.stcsig.org/usability/
Cognetics Corporation - www.cognetics.com