Without Cømpass, even the best design methods fall short of a paradigm where design decisions can be compared on a common basis.Cømpass is being developed to make user performance predictions more reliable.This is made possible by the objective measurement of factors that are proven to affect how humans process visual user interfaces.
Meet Cømpass the AI that measures visual complexity
Download the white paperCognitive resources are limited in users. They should be used to solve tasks, not to operate interfaces.
Cømpass uses computer vision to measure dozens of factors that contribute complexity to an interface, thus depleting cognitive resources and hindering user performance.
Computer vision detects what people can't
Computer vision can analyse details and relationships that far exceed the boundary of human perception. Research in cognitive science has identified dozens of factors that predict cognitive load and correlate with performance in the use of digital interfaces.| f | Measure | Description | Cues | GUI Type | Dimension |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
f f1 | Measure Number of elements | Description Total number of all UI components | Cues 124 | GUI Type Web, Mobile, Embedded | Dimension Visual complexity |
f f2 | Measure Alignment | Description Arrangement of components on the UI | Cues 17 | GUI Type Web, Mobile, Embedded | Dimension Structural |
f f3 | Measure Density | Description Ratio of total area covered by the UI components to the entire screen | Cues 86 | GUI Type Web, Mobile, Embedded | Dimension Visual complexity |
f f4 | Measure Element connectedness | Description Closeness of UI components in layout | Cues 54 | GUI Type Web, Mobile, Embedded | Dimension Perception |
f f5 | Measure Common region | Description Clearness of the gap between groups of components | Cues 23 | GUI Type Web, Mobile, Embedded | Dimension Perception |
f f6 | Measure Grouping | Description Number of objects that are distinguishable | Cues 243 | GUI Type Web, Mobile, Embedded | Dimension Visual complexity |
f f7 | Measure Sequence | Description Organization of components for easy perception | Cues 15 | GUI Type Embedded, Mobile | Dimension Structural |
f f8 | Measure Cohesion | Description Equality level of UI components’ aspect ratio with the display’s AR | Cues 41 | GUI Type Embedded | Dimension Visual complexity |
f f9 | Measure Size | Description The size of UI component | Cues 8 | GUI Type Web, Mobile, Embedded | Dimension Perception |
f f10 | Measure Balance | Description Layout smoothness of UI components | Cues 87 | GUI Type Web, Mobile, Embedded | Dimension Perception |
f f11 | Measure Equilibrium | Description Degree of overlap of the center of all components with the display’s center | Cues 25 | GUI Type Embedded | Dimension Structural |
f f12 | Measure Symmetry | Description Degree of uniform placement of UI components on an axis | Cues 26 | GUI Type Embedded | Dimension Structural |
f f13 | Measure Colour variety | Description The amount of displayed colours | Cues 124 | GUI Type Web, Mobile, Embedded | Dimension Visual complexity |
f f14 | Measure Clusters of colour | Description The number of clusters of RGB values | Cues 17 | GUI Type Web, Mobile, Embedded | Dimension Visual complexity |
f f15 | Measure Entropy | Description Shannon’s information entropy of UI image | Cues 86 | GUI Type Web, Mobile, Embedded | Dimension Visual complexity |
f f16 | Measure Luminance | Description Standard deviation of pixel luminance values | Cues 54 | GUI Type Web, Mobile, Embedded | Dimension Perception |
f f17 | Measure Figure-ground contrast | Description Separation of UI components from the background | Cues 23 | GUI Type Web, Mobile, Embedded | Dimension Perception |
f f18 | Measure White space | Description Ratio of the area without any UI element to the entire UI area | Cues 243 | GUI Type Web, Mobile, Embedded | Dimension Perception |
Cømpass is the objective foundation for better digital products.
*The impact of interface design on user performance in recurring digital tasks: a comparative study. Manuscript in preparation.
Cømpass is currently under development, with a focus on GUIs used by professionals in high stakes industries.