Cognitive Load in Advanced Systems : Registration of Swedish grades in the University Admissions process

Sammanfattning: Users' cognitive load must be considered in the advancement of digital systems, to keep human-computer interaction as effective and sustainable as possible. The aim of this thesis was to redesign a function of the administrative client NyA, an advanced system used by administrators in the university admissions process. The function in focus was "NyA - Register Swedish grades". The goal of the study was; (1) Evaluate ways to reduce the cognitive load in the interface. (2) Create a HiFi-prototype in Axure RP. (3) Collect insights and share them with the company for future development of the NyA-client. An iterative design process consisting of exploration, designing and usability testing resulted in a HiFi prototype in Axure RP. Subjective rating was used in the study in order to evaluate user cognitive load. Specifically, the Overall Workload (OW) scale was used during MidFi-testing. The results showed that; (1) All (eleven) non-experienced participants preferred the new prototype. (2) Eight out of eleven non-experienced participants estimated the MidFi-prototype to cause them less workload than the previous layout. (3) All (three) expert users estimated no difference in workload between the HiFi-prototype and the old interface. Although more testing would be necessary, the results showed that the prototype could have the potential of causing less cognitive load; by aiding the new users while still connecting to the experienced users mental models of the old system.  Therefore, it was concluded that; (1) Design affects cognitive load and it is important to reduce the extraneous load. (2) Experienced users should be considered during the development of advanced systems. (3) Experience reduces cognitive load. (4) Design for fast learning and do so by regulating the intrinsic load of the interface.