"Recognition over Recall" is a central principle of usability, which states that user interfaces should be designed in such a way that users can easily retrieve complex information from their memory using a consistent structure and placeholders.
Minimizing the amount of remembering increases user-friendliness, as users can interact with the system faster and more efficiently.
Origin
The principle of "Recognition over Recall" was formulated by Jakob Nielsen in 1994 as part of his usability heuristics. Nielsen emphasized the importance of reducing the memory load on users in order to increase efficiency and satisfaction when using user interfaces.
- Nielsen, J. (1994). Usability Engineering
- Nielsen, J. (1995). 10 Usability Heuristics
Application in UX and UI design
This principle should lead us to develop applications in which users have to remember as little information as possible. Instead, the user interface should present the information in such a way that the user can use it without much cognitive effort.
Imagine you are in a grocery store, walking down the aisles to get the ingredients for your dinner. You have a mental list of the ingredients you need, but you are having a hard time remembering them all.
Then you see a shelf of spices, and suddenly you remember the chili flakes that you had forgotten on your mental list. However, the sight of the chili spice jar triggers a memory and you immediately know that you need this spice for your dinner.
This is an example of how recognition in everyday situations can be easier than remembering information. This phenomenon is also used by memory athletes to memorize long lists of items. Recognizing a visual element easily triggers a memory associated with it, which may even contain extensive details about the objects or facts to be remembered. Consistent coding is important here, such as linking the elements with familiar images or symbols.
Icons or symbols are therefore a powerful tool for a design that is based on recognition. Well-designed and consistently applied icons are excellent visual placeholders for functions or topics.
More important than their specific relationship to reality is their recognition value. For example, telephone handset or floppy disk icons are still used today and understood even by people who have never seen a floppy disk or a telephone handset.
Selection and AutoSuggest lists
Another example: you use a social media platform where you are asked to state your interests. One version of the platform offers an empty text field in which you can enter your interests. Another version displays a list of interests from which you can select them. In the second version, it is much easier for you to identify your interests because you can recognize them in the list instead of having to remember them all.
Selection and AutoSuggest lists use the "Recognition over Recallr" principle in this way, contributing to a more efficient use of the application and a better user experience.
