The Impact Of Inattentional Blindness On UI Design

The "Generate" button, a key component of our AI generation feature that turns your Jira tickets into release notes. Unfortunately it turns out that we screwed up our UX. As a result, not all evaluators found that button. It was a quick fix… but we learned a lot from that mistake.

Finding the problem

Our decision to move the button was not arbitrary; rather, it was driven by a combination of data analysis and usability testing. Surprisingly, our data revealed that approximately one in 10 evaluators did not attempt to use the AI generation feature at all. To delve deeper into this issue, we conducted a round of usability testing, which confirmed that some participants failed to discover the button promptly after selecting an issue.

To address these challenges, we made two important changes:

1. Button Placement: We relocated the "Generate" button to the top of the right sidebar, aligning it more closely with the issues you're working on. This new position enhances its association with the content generation process.

2. Attention-Grabbing Animation: To draw your attention to the button's new location, we've added an eye-catching animation that activates when an issue is selected. This animation serves as a visual cue, making it easier for users to spot the "Generate" button and understand its functionality.

Considering In-attentional Blindness in UI Design:

The concept of in-attentional blindness, as defined in psychology, refers to the phenomenon where individuals fail to perceive unexpected objects or events in their field of vision when their attention is focused elsewhere. In the context of UI design, this cognitive bias highlights the importance of making critical elements highly visible and intuitive.

By moving the "Generate" button closer to the user's action and by adding additional visual cues by animating the change, we can minimise the effects of in-attentional blindness.

For first time users, we've also added an additional hint the first time users trigger the appearance of the "Generate" button. Drawing even more attention to it. Once you see the change of button, you can't un-see it. Not dissimilar to the change in the picture below. Can you spot the difference?

How long did it take to see the difference? Once you see it, it can't be unseen. 🙂