(Archived) How to make Reminders Even Better? Use "Time Left" to enable at a glance awareness

[Praxiteles 4]

Which of these two tables is easier to understand at a glance to decide what to work on first?

 

Reminders                               Due Date

AMIA Proposal Work                 Thu, Jun 30

X-Prize Scoring                         Fri, Jul 8

ABPM Picture Certification       Sat, Jul 24

 

Reminders                               Time Left

AMIA Proposal Work                 9 Days

X-Prize Scoring                         15 Days

ABPM Picture Certif                  1 Month 2 Days

 

 

The second one is easier to use for most people because the first takes extra cognitive steps to process.

 

This is the principle of "Frictionless Cognitive Load" and it is used in healthcare to help doctors ensure that they recognize dates and times in medical records more quickly and easily. 

 

The principle of "Frictionless Cognitive Load" can be added as an option to make Evernote Reminders, and even other parts of user design, even better.

[Jackolicious 808]

Thanks for the suggestion. Noted!

[pgdahl 133]

Which of these two tables is easier to understand at a glance to decide what to work on first?

 

Reminders                               Due Date

AMIA Proposal Work                 Thu, Jun 30

X-Prize Scoring                         Fri, Jul 8

ABPM Picture Certification       Sat, Jul 24

 

Reminders                               Time Left

AMIA Proposal Work                 9 Days

X-Prize Scoring                         15 Days

ABPM Picture Certif                  1 Month 2 Days

 

 

The second one is easier to use for most people because the first takes extra cognitive steps to process.

 

This is the principle of "Frictionless Cognitive Load" and it is used in healthcare to help doctors ensure that they recognize dates and times in medical records more quickly and easily. 

 

The principle of "Frictionless Cognitive Load" can be added as an option to make Evernote Reminders, and even other parts of user design, even better.

 

I get the idea. However, If the reminder is about something you need to do on that date (and can peacefully forget about until that very day) the second list does not really make much sense. It would need to be optional per note basis.

 

Also, I brought it up elsewhere, but ... it annoys me to no end that the date is written with words instead of numbers in the current year. 

[megsaint 441]

I like the idea of it being an option. However, I would not want it to be the only option as I find myself, as I look at the second list trying to figure out what date the things are due on. Perhaps it's just what I've become familiar and comfortable with but countdowns have never really worked for me. My brain has been trained to visualize time like one of those full year wipe off calendars with a box for each day.

Just goes to show why options are good.