Designing visual notification cues for mobile devices

Mobile and wearable devices place enormous constraints on input and display form factors as well as on user attention. The key to designing micro-displays is knowing what sizes and configurations are viable for keeping users informed, what flexibility different micro-displays provide for different types of messages, and the learning requirements on the user. An experiment was performed to measure user learning and comprehension of increasing amounts of information on a simulated three-light visual display. Users were required to learn five sets of messages of increasing information and complexity using the small display. Results show that micro-displays can transmit detailed, information-rich messages up to 6.75 bits with minimal training (i.e., few trials and short time frames). © 2004 ACM.