I forgot to remember to forget. — Reflections.

We forget things most of the time. It is a human thing that happens. I myself don’t remember much, but I do remember that I’m a very forgetful person. And always, it comes down to design to solve yet another human factor amongst the litany of human shortcomings that we already have to contend with.

Do we remember with what we see? or from what we feel? People say you can forget a person and your memories with them, but you can never forget their face or how they made you feel. To some extent, this sentiment applies to our practices of Interaction. This is done through visuals. Often, you’ll see someone you go say “of hey, I remember that actor from somewhere!” or “wait, we’ve been to that place before!” when they see those things, but often when you say the name, they’ll perhaps shoot blanks in recalling. We often associate visuals with context, and this allows us to recall faster than just thinking of names.

A bad memory is not necessarily a bad thing. The mind forgets the old so it can bring in the new. However, in cases of design, we need to be cognizant of the fact that the user MUST remember what they have done, what they have selected, what they have input. We must keep systems at hand to make sure that the user can retrace their steps, and know where they are and never lost within what we create.