FIELD LAB  ·  signal nominal

Don't read
about HCI.
Touch it

A field laboratory of the principles your textbook describes. Every section below is a working instrument — drag the targets, race the menus, fix the broken UI, narrate a screen reader. The site itself is the proof you understood the material.

v1.0 · APR 2026
10 instruments
0 dependencies
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§ 01 / INSTRUMENT

Fitts's Law

Time to acquire a target is a function of distance and width. MT = a + b · log₂(D/W + 1)
§1.1 · CLICK PLAYGROUND
click amber, then mint — as fast as you can
§1.1 — interactive targettrial 0 · — ms
CONTROLS

Predict the cost.

distance D 560 px
width W 80 px
log₂(D/W+1)
predicted MT
your MT

Big targets, close by, are cheap. Small targets, far away, cost dearly. Place the most-used buttons where the user already is.

§ 02 / INSTRUMENT

Hick's Law

Reaction time grows with the logarithm of the number of choices. RT = a + b · log₂(n + 1)
§2.1 · CHOICE REACTION

Click START. A target tile will glow — tap it as fast as you can. Try every n. Watch your time grow.

choices n =
awaiting input.
DATA

Your reaction curve.

2 4 8 16 RT (ms) vs choices

Mint dashes = predicted (log₂). Amber dots = you. Long menus aren't free — group, hide, chunk. A 3-deep menu of 4 beats a flat menu of 64.

§ 03 / PRINCIPLE

Gestalt Grouping

The mind perceives wholes before parts. Use proximity, similarity, closure, continuity to do layout work for free.
§3.x · TOGGLE THE PRINCIPLES
PROXIMITY SIMILARITY CLOSURE CONTINUITY
§3 — the same dots, four ways of seeing them4 principles · live
§ 04 / PRINCIPLE

Norman's Doors

Affordance + signifier + mapping + feedback. If a door needs a sign, the door is broken.
§4.1 · BAD AFFORDANCE
PUSH

the handle says grab me · the sign says push. they disagree. which one will you trust?

§4.2 · GOOD AFFORDANCE

flat plate · nothing to grab · no sign needed. the design itself answers the question.

§4.3 · STOVE MAPPING

Which knob lights which burner?

Click a glowing burner. Then click the knob that controls it. Bad mapping forces you to read labels. Good mapping is invisible.

A · linear knobs (bad)
guesses: 0 · correct: 0
B · spatial knobs (good)
guesses: 0 · correct: 0
§4.4 · FEEDBACK

A button that answers, vs a button that doesn't.

Both buttons "work." One leaves you wondering.

clicks: 0
clicks: 0
§ 05 / HEURISTICS

Nielsen's Ten

Cheap, fast inspection. One reviewer finds ~35% of issues; five reviewers find ~75%.
§ 06 / MODEL

GOMS · KLM

Predict expert task time before you build. Sum the keystrokes — the cheapest usability test you'll ever run.
§6 · KLM LABORATORY

Build a task. Watch the seconds add up.

Every interaction with software decomposes into five primitive operators. Tap one below to add it — or run a guided scenario on the right to see a real task play out, step-explanation and tokens in view at the same time.

Timeline · operators in order tap operators or run a scenario →
— timeline is empty. tap any operator above, or pick a scenario on the right —
total 0.00s
Time breakdown · by operator 0.00s
Live · current step what's happening & why
— pick a scenario below. each step will appear here while the token lands in the timeline on the left. —
Guided scenarios real, everyday tasks

The point of KLM: you can predict expert task time before you build a single screen. If your design needs five M-operators just to get to the user's goal, the design is asking too much. Strip mental steps with sensible defaults, recognition over recall, and consistent placement.

§ 07 / TOOL

Color & Contrast

WCAG demands 4.5:1 for body text, 3:1 for large. Below that, ~10% of your readers cannot see your interface.
§7.1 · CONTRAST CHECKER
Large headline text.
Body copy you actually have to read for minutes at a time. If contrast is poor, this hurts.
CONTROLS
foreground
background
contrast ratio

Computed from WCAG 2.x relative luminance. Aim for AAA on body whenever the design allows.

§ 08 / SIMULATION

Accessibility Sim

The fastest way to design for everyone is to take away your senses one at a time and try again.
§8.1 · INTERFACE UNDER TEST

Sign up for the lab.

Terms nominal
SCREEN READER OUTPUT
› narration disabled. enable “screen reader narration” and tab through the form.

What a real user hears. If it sounds like nonsense to you, fix the labels — not the screen reader.