Getting Users' Attention in Web Apps in Likable, Minimally Annoying Ways.

Web applications often need to present the user new information in the context of their current activity. Designers rely on a range of UI elements and visual techniques to present the new content to users, such as pop-ups, message icons, and marquees. Web designers need to select which technique to use depending on the centrality of the information and how quickly they need a reaction. However, designers often rely on intuition and anecdotes rather than empirical evidence to drive their decision-making as to which presentation technique to use. This work represents an attempt to quantify these presentation style decisions. We present a large (n=1505) user study that compares 15 visual attention-grabbing techniques with respect to reaction time, noticeability, annoyance, likability, and recall. We suggest glowing shadows and message icons with badges, as well as more possibilities for future work.