Graphical Means of Drawing Users' Attention in the Visual Interface

This paper presents two experiments in using 'masks' to direct users' attention within a graphical user interface. Bleaching, darkening, blurring, and a solid-color pattern overlay are used to de-emphasize background material, causing the target to visually 'pop-out' at the user. The trade-off between effectively directing the users' attention and ensuring the user's ability to read the background material is explored. Experimental results indicate that there is a wide range of useful masks for some techniques, allowing designers flexibility in addressing other concerns.