[Sigia-l] Prominence in Short Lists

[jess at cognissa.com]

Short answer: Primacy and recency effects do change "prominence" in lists,
but in a shorter list, with 4 items, where you have two items that are more
frequently chosen, positions 1 & 2 are good. The list isn't long enough for
the primacy effect for the first couple items to decay before the user
makes their choice.

This is a case where Miller's 7+/-2 actually has some relevance - primacy
and recency effects are strongest when the number of concurrent items to
choose from must be held in short-term memory (ie you can't see them all on
the screen) and exceed the user's short term memory capacity. With four
items displayed concurrently, you're fine. For long <select> lists, long
lists of links (like a blogroll), etc. primacy and recency have more
applicability.

cheers,

Jess

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